


A Past That Is Dead And Gone And A Future Not Yet Born

by OnceUponASunsetDream



Series: Genderbent Stories [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Annabeth is a bitch, F/M, Female Percy, Kinda, Percy and Nico are family, Percy joins Young Justice, Poseidon is a crappy dad, Sally is dead, exiled Percy, prophecies are stupid, she is a hero, slash vigilante, the gods are morons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-10
Updated: 2014-04-10
Packaged: 2018-01-18 21:13:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 23,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1443118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceUponASunsetDream/pseuds/OnceUponASunsetDream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Persephone 'Persie' Jackson was exiled from the demigod world. Because of a gods-damned prophecy of all things. Three years after her old family (were they ever really family?) ditch her, Persie meets one Wally West at university. Her world is irreversibly changed. Typical.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Right people, heads up. This is a story in which Percy Jackson is a girl. If you do not like this, go away. I have recently found a fascination with the genderbent stories and have tried to give it a go. 
> 
> I decided to call her Persephone which, yes I know, is quite popular but here is my reasoning. Right. Sally Jackson named her son Perseus because he was one of the only heroes who managed to have a somewhat happy ending so with this in mind I attempted to find a female version of Perseus. It didn't work. Don't get me wrong there was the occasional woman who had a good ending yes but to be honest, I didn't really like their names. So I thought, well, Persephone is often used for a 'Female Percy' simply because you can shorten it to 'Percy' - I did partly choose the name because of this. Partly. - however I was reading up on several versions of the Hades/Persephone story and for a few of them, reading between the lines it looks like Persephone practically ran away to get away from her mother who had set up a Rapunzel-style situation of 'gilded cage' life. Now, yes, other versions of the myth do say that Hades kidnapped, raped and imprisoned his wife but I personally, prefer the other one and running with the idea that Sally also liked this (Maybe Poseidon told her this one?) and named her daughter thus. I also changed the spelling somewhat to make it a bit more feminine and to also try to separate 'Percy Jackson' from this character which, I warn you, might be a bit OOC. So instead of 'Percy' she will be nicknamed 'Persie'. 
> 
> Also, I've been reading over this to edit and realise I jump a bit in places. This is because I am a lazy sod and find filler chapters difficult to write and tend to lose interest in the story. When I began this, I was really quite proud
> 
>  
> 
> I'm begging for some advice here people, anything you have to say will be enormously appreciated but if you have something bad to say can you at least give me some advice so I can improve? I'm grateful guys. Thanks. 
> 
> P.S. Annabeth comes out as a bitch in this. I don't know why but I have a hard time writing her in a good light. I mean I love her in the actual books but she hardly ever comes out nice in my stories, I'm not entirely sure why. So again. Even though she's not in this much, you don't like, don't read. It's as simple as that.

Persie closed her eyes and groaned with frustration as she tried valiantly to read the book on the desk before her. She had to actively concentrate to hold herself still and quench the urge to twitch or just throw caution to the winds and punch something. The tension within her was building the more she tried to read the book. And the more she tried to read the book, the more the letters seemed to float and spin off the page. And the more the letters moved the more she wanted to fucking hit someth-

"Hi there! Bad day?" a bright voice interrupted her internal fury and she let out a little scream as she jumped, fist swinging wildly and stared up at the person in front of her. There was a boy about her age, nineteen or twenty with the reddest hair she had ever seen splayed around his head making him look a little like he had been electrocuted. He had astonishingly bright green eyes in a boyishly handsome face. He was tall and lean and the bright smile on his face gave him an innocent air despite the subtle hints of a warrior she could see in his stance in reaction to her swing. "I'm Wally. Wally West." he continued, holding out a hand.

She found herself smiling back at him, his own smile proving somewhat contagious. "Persie Jackson." she replied taking the hand and shaking it, feeling the held-back strength in the grip. From the slight narrowing of his eyes she knew he suspected something about her too. 

"Percy?" he asked once they pulled their hands back. "Like Perseus? Percival?" his smile turned mischievous and she readied herself for the inevitable teasing.

"No." she sighed, gathering her books and slinging her bag over one shoulder, feeling he comforting weight bump against the pen that was safely in her pocket. "It's short for Persephone."

He paused and tilted his head, examining her with a gaze so intense it made her blush. "It suits you. It's pretty." he murmured and then seemed to realise what he just said and flushed. "Anyway. I was just gonna grab a coffee, take a break from the books. You wanna come with?"

She considered him for a moment and then shrugged. What the hell, you only live once and she wasn’t about to deny that Wally West was a very handsome man. "Yeah. Yeah ok."

oOo

He led her to a café just off the college grounds and grinned when she ordered a triple shot espresso. She probably shouldn't. Caffeine didn't really react well with her. He himself ordered a tall iced coffee and four donuts for himself. She eyed him oddly as they sat down and he grinned, unabashed. "Fast metabolism." he shrugged. "Runs in the family." he sniggered slightly as if he had just made a particularly hilarious joke but she only raised an eyebrow in response. "Anyway." he coughed awkwardly as their drinks arrived and his plate of donuts. "What did the book do to you to make you hate it so much? If looks could kill, I tell you."

She looked down into the white froth of her drink, not meeting his eyes. "It was…annoying me." she said eventually.

"I know the feeling." he said with a small sigh, taking a big gulp of his drink. "I'm studying to be a forensic scientist, like my uncle."

"Why?" she asked. "I mean, don't you want to do something different?"

Wally tilted his head thoughtfully but eventually shook his head. "No, not really. My Aunt and Uncle were a huge part of my life and I've always loved science and being able to help people like that…yeah, I really want to be a forensic scientist. What about you? What do you want to do?"

"I'm studying to be a marine biologist. I want to care for marine animals in captivity."

Wally nodded. "You good with fish?"

Persie smiled over the rim of her cup and nodded. "Yeah. I've always been…good with aquatic animals. I want to make their time in captivity comfortable. I didn't want them to suffer."

"I've got a good friend I think you'd get along with." Wally said, looking up at her.

"Yeah? I used to know a few people you'd like."

"Used to?"

Persie stiffened, looking away. "We…drifted apart."

"I'm sorry." Wally murmured. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"Its ok." Persie said with a smile. "It was a long time ago." she chewed idly and Wally looked suddenly down at his plate to see his last donut missing.

"Hey!" Wally whined. "You took my donut."

She grinned at him and lifted her mug in a mock salute. "You already had three."

Wally pouted at her and she laughed. "I've got to go." Wally said regretfully after a few minutes of comfortable silence and she nodded. "I promised I'd babysit my cousins."

"That's alright, Wally." she said with a gentle smile. "Thank you for this. Really. It's been a long time since I've had a friend." she froze, a blush staining her cheeks. "I-I mean."

"Nah, it's ok." Wally interrupted, a shit-eating grin on his face. "Would you like to go out with me again sometime?" she smirked.

"What's in it for me?"

He leaned in slightly and matched her smirk. "What else but my amazing company?"

Persie laughed but nodded and he pulled out his phone. "Can I have your number?"

"You can." Persie said, huffing a laugh at his obvious discomfort. She rattled off her number whilst fishing her own mobile out of her pocket to type in his.

Wally beamed at her despite the blush on his cheeks and put his phone back in his pocket. "I'll give you a call then."

"I look forward to it." she replied. "Don't you have to go?" she added after watching him stand beside the table with a goofy grin on his face.

He snapped out of his daze, his blush darkening and he nodded. "See you later." he said quickly before almost running out of the café.

Persie laughed and found herself lighter than usual. Maybe this was a sign. She was finally moving on and managing to leave the past behind her. 

She remained in the café for two more hours, working slowly through her text book and painstakingly making notes until she had worked through three more chapters. It was with a great sense of accomplishment that she placed her books in her bag and called a cab to drive her to the apartment where she and her stepfather Paul had lived ever since her mother's death. When Persie managed to find the right keys to the apartment she opened the door and dumped her books on the bench. "Paul?" she called. "You home?"

"In the lounge, Perse." Paul replied. 

A year and a half after the Battle of Manhattan Sally Jackson was killed in a car crash. A car ahead blew a tire, skidding uncontrollably on the wet road and smashed into a car in the opposite line. It resulted in a five car pile-up and four fatalities, including Sally. Paul and Persie had been devastated and while Paul managed to hobble through day-to-say life, Persie retreated. She refused to speak for two weeks and when she did it was short and infrequent. She pulled away from her friends at Camp and when things came to a head, well, needless to say she had no trouble leaving the people who had so easily left her to wallow and fester in her grief. In her will, Sally had asked that Paul look after Persie and Paul had had no trouble with that and Persie was fine with living with the man who had been the biggest father figure in her life.   
"Hey, kiddo." Paul greeted her with a small smile, looking up from the piles of essays he was marking. "Good day?"

Persie sank onto the couch beside him and kissed his cheek before sinking back into the lounge, leaning against the arm. "It was ok." she began. "And then it got better."

Paul looked up at her curiously and gave her a look that clearly asked her to explain. "It was a pretty crappy day. I was late to a lecture and then I ran into that group of girls who hate me again. I swear this is no different to high school." she ranted.

Paul gave her another look and she coughed awkwardly. "I was studying in the library and my dyslexia was acting up more than usual so I was getting pretty frustrated and then this guy asked me if I wanted a break and he took me out to coffee and then asked me out again."

"Hmm." Paul gave her a small, secretive smile. "So, what's his name?""Wally West."

Paul blinked. "Is he related to Iris Allen, the reporter? I believe West was her maiden name."

"I dunno." Persie replied. "How do you know her?"

"We were in college together. Some of the same classes. Nice girl." Paul nodded. "Met her boyfriend once. I think he may have been called Allen."

"I'll ask him." Persie promised. "He reminds me of Apollo's kids."

"Will that be a problem?" Paul asked in concern. 

"No. No it won't. I like him, he's a nice guy." she smiled with a small blush appearing on her cheeks. 

"Look, I know you can handle yourself, Persie." Paul said, patting her hand gently. "But just watch out for yourself ok? I don't wanna see you hurt that bad again."

She sobered at the mention of her past but she nodded. "Yeah, I'll be careful, Paul. I promise."

"Thanks, Perse." Paul said with a small sigh of relief. "You want to help?" he asked playfully gesturing at the papers on the table in front of him.

Persie snorted. "I'll pass thanks." Paul chuckled as she stood, wincing as she stretched and her back cracked audibly. "I'll get started on dinner."

"Thank you, Persie."


	2. Chapter 2

Wally still had a grin on his face when he arrived at his Aunt and Uncle's house. He could hear Don and Dawn screaming from the other side of the door and what sounded like Bart pleading with them to be quiet. He knocked on the door and it was opened by his aunt who held a red faced baby in her arms. "Oh, Wally." she sighed. "Thank goodness." she handed him the baby and ushered him into the house. 

Wally adjusted the child in his arms and grinned at the scrunched up face. "Hey there Donny." he cooed, poking the chubby cheeks. "How are my little cousins eh?"

"Oh, they take after their father." Iris said fondly, swiftly braiding her fringe out of her eyes and pinning it down. 

"When do you leave, Aunt I?" Wally asked. "You looking forward to a night off?"

His Aunt laughed and patted his cheek fondly. "We leave when your uncle gets out of the shower and yes, I am looking forward to a night off." he smiled lovingly at her infant. "Haven't had one for about a year and a half. Not since these little terrors were born." she let her son seize her finger just a gust of wind entered the room in the form of her future grandson with his aunt in his arms. The little girl seemed to have forgotten her crying and instead giggled at the superspeed. 

"Wally!" Bart cried happily, echoed by Dawn in his arms who chattered happily, reaching for her cousin. "You look weird." Bart said, wincing as Dawn tugged on his hair.

"And you need a haircut." Wally retorted but by now Iris was looking closely at him, trying to see the difference."

"What happened Wally? Was it something good?"  
"Did you meet Per…?" Bart began but then clamped a hand over his mouth, looking guilty and speed out of the room.

Wally scowled after the teenager while his aunt hounded for more information. "Who was he talking about? Did you meet someone Wally? A boy? A girl?"

Wally sighed. "A girl. Persephone Jackson."

His aunt got a mischievous smile on her face. "So…" she drawled, taking Don from his arms now that her hair was done. "What's she like then?"

"I don't know." Wally muttered. "Today was the first time I spoke to her. She seems nice. Fun and sort of sad at the same time. She's nothing like Artemis."

"That's good." Iris sighed. She had never really liked Artemis all that much, thought that she and Wally were too incompatible. She had been right in the end, Artemis and his relationship was mostly comprised of fights and make-up sex, none of which had been good for them and the break they had had whilst she was on her mission had been both stressful and a relief. When the other had returned they both agreed that it wasn't going to work and to go their separate ways. It wasn't long after that she and Kaldur had announced their new relationship, their time together in the midst of the enemy binding them together in a way that no one else could understand. They were engaged now and Wally was genuinely happy for them. They worked well together. 

"Is she pretty?" Iris asked him softly, rocking gently from side to side, patting the back of the child in her arms. 

"She's beautiful." Wally whispered, fighting down a blush. "She's got long black hair and her skin's all gold and her eyes are amazing. They look like a different colour every time you look. Sometimes they're blue or green or purple."

Iris giggled. "Are you going to let us meet this lovely lady then?"

"What lovely lady?" Barry asked as he zoomed into the room, ruffling Wally's hair and kissing his wife and son. "Have you got a girlfriend?"

Wally opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by Iris who nodded. "Persephone Jackson. Apparently she's beautiful."

Barry clapped his nephew on the back with a grin. "Yeah? We gonna meet her?"

Wally shook his uncle's hand off with a scowl. "We haven't even been on a proper date yet. She's not my girlfriend."

"Yet." His aunt and uncle said together. 

"Don't you have a movie to go to?" Wally asked desperately, grabbing his cousin back and ushering his aunt and uncle towards the door. "Off you go, Bart and I'll be fine. You go watch your movie and eat your dinner, bye!"

Iris laughed and called a goodbye to Bart and Dawn as she wiggled her fingers at her son before snatching her handbag up off the table while Barry zipped into the next room to say goodbye before joining his wife at the door. Wally breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the car pull out and looked down at his cousin who was sucking on his shirt front. "Your parents are evil, little cousin. I don't envy when you start taking an interest in girls. Or boys. Whichever." he paused, hearing Bart cooing at Dawn in the other room. "Girls." he corrected. "Wonder who Bart's mummy is. You'll tell me won't you, Donny? Of course you will." Donny looked up at him bemusedly with his light green eyes, somewhere between his father's blue and his mother's green and patted Wally's cheek with a slightly soggy hand. 

Wally meandered into the living room and saw both Bart and Dawn staring at the TV, showing a child's show full of bright colours and people dancing about in ridiculous costumes, with identical expressions of adoration. "What are you watching?" Wally asked slowly, letting Don down so he could crawl over to his sister and flop on the ground beside her, gazing up at the screen like it was some something mesmerising.

"I have no idea." Bart replied softly, not looking away from the screen.

"Right." Wally replied, baffled. "Well I'm going to get started on dinner. Have the twins eaten?"

Bart nodded. "Yeah. Grandma gave em that mush stuff they like. No broccoli." he added in a moment of clarity, glancing away from the screen to fix his cousin with a serious look.

Wally sighed and nodded. "No broccoli." he agreed and returned to the kitchen wondering how the hell he got such a weird family. Maybe it was the exposure to chemicals and lightning bolts. Wally paused. That was probably a contributor, he conceded.


	3. Chapter 3

Later that night once the sun had finally set and the moon had risen to its peak, Persie slipped out of bed after turning off her alarm. She moved quietly across her room and opened her wardrobe, shoving her other clothes aside to reveal a previously concealed cupboard that held her costume. She pulled it out and methodically pulled it on, pulling her helmet on over her long braid and slid across to stand in front of her mirror. It never got tired looking at herself in this costume. She looked like an almost completely different person. Only Paul, the gods and the people from camp would have a chance at recognising her. 

She had managed to salvage the armour that Beckendorf had made her before his death and before her…well before everything had gone to shit. It was an amazing piece of work. The bronze breastplate was engraved with a gentle gold. She wore a deep blue long-sleeved Kevlar shirt and long black tights of the same material. Over the tights she wore a traditional bronze-plated leather skirt that Beckendorf had somehow managed to tinge blue. She had tough black boots and above them, greaves, covering her knees and shins. Persie had managed to find herself a marvellous pair of black gloves that protected her hands well while still giving her mobility and the gauntlets covering her forearms, like the rest of her armour had the amazing ability to be both slim and light whilst still giving her great protection.

Persie grinned at her reflection before she slipped her helmet on over her head. It had been altered slightly from the more traditional style to one which was slightly more modern. It was still made of bronze but now her eyes were covered by a white material that was often used in domino masks. The ear holes were now larger and covered with a fine mesh and to top the entire thing off there was a blue horsehair plume. She also wore a waist length blue cloak that was fastened with a sea-shell clasp on her shoulder. She had taken the inspiration from the shade of Theseus that Nico had summoned. 

After she was exiled Persie had realised that if she was going to fight crime in the mortal world, she should be able to fight mortals. So a new sword had been added to her arsenal along with a set long hunting knives strapped to her leg beneath her skirt and a collapsible staff in her boot. The new sword slipped it into the sheath at her hip with Riptide in pen form in a small pocket on the sheath and strapped her belt around her waist. It had taken them a while but eventually Persie and Beckendorf had managed to make her a belt that could hold a surprising amount of water for her to use at any time. After the second Titan war, Persie had discovered a few new tricks and the belt that had been created for her had proved to be more useful than just as a source for energy and healing as it had been originally designed for. It was a beautiful piece based on a normal leather belt. The water was held in several long tubes which twined intricately around the belt in patterns which looked like a mix of knots and snakes. 

Persie looked back at the door to her bedroom for a long moment, thinking of Paul's room just across from her own and then she turned stubbornly back to the window. Paul had given her his blessing, he understood that she had to do this. If she wasn't allowed to help her own kind she should be able to help others in need. Manhattan didn't have its own designated hero who had staked out a territory so she took it for herself. Manhattan had always been her town. She had lived there her whole life and now she should be able to give something back to it. 

With a smile on her face she opened the window and leapt out. She had purposely chosen the room which looked out onto a alley that had no other windows so she was ensured an unseen exit onto the roof below. Once she got there she was eight stories above the city and grinned, feeling the salty wind from the bay on her face and the light smattering of rain on her face. With a cry of delight she leapt into the air and just as she was about form a platform to carry her she was jerked suddenly to a stop mid-air. She was spun in a circle and faced her attacker with her sword drawn. She didn't even pause when she was greeted with a green face, pinched in concern, red hair floating around her face along with a cape. 

"Miss Martian, I presume?" Persie snapped. "Let me down."

"But you jumped!" she gasped. "You jumped off the roof!" she added, gesturing down at the road below and the cars that were speeding past. 

"I would have been fine." Persie snapped. "I know what I'm doing."

"Let her down." a new voice called and Persie turned her head to see two guys stood on the roof across the alleyway. 

Miss Martian looked dubious but let Persie drop and she expertly formed a platform out of the water around her and crossed her arms, smirking slightly as they winced at the screech of her gauntlets scraping against each other and her breastplate. "What are doing here? Manhattan is my city. No one else had claimed it, so it's mine." she fixed the three of them with a steely look that they probably couldn't see but no doubt they got the gist of it.

"Do you know who we are?" one of the guys asked.

Persie scoffed. "Who the hell doesn't?" she gestured at them just as Miss Martian gently landed beside them. "Nightwing, Blaze and Miss Martian."

The man in black from head to foot except for a slash of blue across his chest in the shape of a bird in flight. He looked over to his friend with a smirk, nodding to him in an obvious nudge to take over. The other guy wore black as well but he had an orange and red lightning bolt running down the front of his costume, slightly off centre. He had a half cowl which showed both his face and his bright red and oddly familiar hair. The cowl had orange lightning bolts on the ear and at the top of his boots. Blaze wore large red tinted goggles over his eyes and he looked rather uncomfortable, looking up at the angry looking girl. "Ah, you're Oceania aren't you?"

Persie laughed shortly. "That's what they call me." she let a tendril of water snake down to him and dance along his chest as Persie floated closer to him. "Now." she asked, leaning in even closer as the water began to tighten around his throat. "What are you doing here?"

"Um, Well-ah…" Blaze stuttered before Nightwing took over.   
"Just stop talking to the pretty girl Kid Mouth." he muttered. "Look. Have you heard about any drug rings starting up in the past few days?"

Persie shrugged. "There have been whispers." she admitted, releasing Blaze and laying one hand on her hip and tapping her sword with the other. "Some dicks in the downtown. I meant to get into it tonight actually." she said meaningfully.

"Well how about we work together!" Miss Martian said happily, clapping her hands together. "It'll be so much fun!"

Persie leaned back raising an eyebrow at the Martian's obvious joy and Blaze's embarrassment. "Sure." she drawled. "Just this once." she allowed. "But next time a little heads up? I'm sure you know how territorial we can all be."

Nightwing nodded. "Of course." he grinned. "You ready to have some fun?"

Persie grinned right back. "I've been itching for a fight for ages."

"Let's go then." Blaze said, zooming away and then appearing back a few seconds later on the other side of the building. "Slow pokes."

"Is he always like that?" Persie asked in amusement.

Nightwing sighed and Miss Martian giggled. "Yes." Nightwing muttered. "We thought he might grow out of it."

"It didn't work." she deadpanned and Nightwing laughed. 

"I like you, Oceania. I think we're gonna be great friends."

"Oh, we should introduce to the team." Miss Martian gushed. "You would get on with Aqualad."

"Maybe later, Miss M." Nightwing interrupted, patting her on the arm. "After we've taken down the bad guys."


	4. Chapter 4

After the fight in which they had indeed found and taken down the drug ring that began to take off, the three present members of Young Justice had invited Oceania to accompany them to the mountain. She had stared at them through the blank white eye pieces before nodding reluctantly.

"Ok. I won't be joining your 'boy-band' though." 

Nightwing snickered and Miss Martian frowned in confusion but Blaze laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Come on, ocean-girl. Let's show you our super awesome base."

Persie allowed herself to be let to a zeta beam disguised as a broken telephone box. Taking a moment to appreciate the irony she allowed herself to be led into the box after Blaze and when she stepped out of the whirling white light to the robotic voice saying "Announcing Guest."

She strode into the room, determined to make a good impression but stopped short when she saw who was standing there to meet them. She barely noticed the arrival of Nightwing and Miss Martian but she returned the smile that Aqualad bestowed on her. "Do you two know each other?" Blaze asked, looking between them so fast his head blurred. 

They both ignored him and Aqualad crossed his fisted arm across his chest and bowed at the waist while Persie sank into a short curtsy with her head only slightly lowered. "Princess." Aqualad greeted formally.

"Captain Kaldur'ahm." she replied with a grin, moving forward to give him a hug. "Do I still have that title?" she asked self-depreciatingly. 

"Of course." he replied pulling away from the hug and holding her shoulders companionably. "You should never have lost it. It is your birthright."

She gave a short laugh. "As a bastard?"

Kaldur shook his head, looking annoyed with her. "As your father's daughter."

Persie let another small smile to curl across her mouth. "He is no longer my father though, is he?"

"He acted most unbecoming of the station." he whispered looking guilty at even uttering the words.

"How do you know each other?" Miss Martian asked, floating to their sides and a curious expression blooming on her green face. 

"Princess?" Blaze blurted, held back only by Nightwing's hand on his arm. "Are you really?"

Persie sighed, glad that the majority of her face was hidden by the helmet but still itching to run her hands roughly through her hair. She settled instead for letting some of the water from her belt out to run along her fingers. "Yes." she admitted. "I suppose I am no longer bound by their laws?" she questioned Kaldur who shook his head slowly.

"No. as you are no longer a part of their world, you are not governed by them and their decrees."

"I'm a half blood." she admitted. "A demigod."

"Half human." Kaldur explained for her. "Half Greek God."

"Greek god." Blaze repeated in a flat tone. Nightwing however nodded and hummed a little as if everything now made sense to him. Blaze turned to his friend, mouth hanging open. "You knew about them? They're real?" Nightwing just nodded. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

Nightwing shrugged. "Batman." he said simply. "They weren't our rules to break."

"I'm Poseidon's daughter." Persie said in a voice that was a lot calmer than she thought she was capable of. Evidently more so that what Kaldur thought at least. He was edging slowly away from her as if waiting for an explosion. "The people of Atlantis - to them Poseidon is the king of the seas. By blood this makes me a 'princess' I suppose despite the illegitimacy."

"But I thought Aquaman-" Miss Martian began but Persie and Kaldur both interrupted by shaking their heads.

"Aquaman is king of Atlantis, the kingdom of Atlantis, nothing more. Poseidon is the king, the lord of the seas." Kaldur explained patiently. "Think of it as the ocean as one kingdom. Poseidon is the ruler of the entirety but Aquaman holds a considerable state. There he rules supreme yet he still answers to Poseidon."

There was a small silence as they digested the knowledge, Nightwing no doubt filing it away to report later. "Why did you say that you're no longer bound by their laws?"

Persie looked away, her hand convulsing around the hilt of her sword. "I was exiled."

They all take an involuntary half-step back, looking for reasons that she was a threat, reasons why her own people shunned her. Kaldur on the other hand, moved closer, laying a hand briefly on her armour-clad shoulder. "For no fault of her own." he assured his friends.

"I was exiled shortly after I saved the fucking world." Persie scoffed. "They thought me too powerful and they became wary of me. Then there was a new oracle announced. It wasn't her fault, she had no control over it but her first prophecy said that a daughter of Poseidon would unleash lightning upon the Earth." she shifted restlessly, fingers again clenching around her sword and looked away even though they couldn't see her face. "Fools. It was the perfect reason to send me away. They probably would have had me killed except for the fact that I saved them all before."

"Dicks." Blaze's voice broke the stifling silence that had fallen and Persie found herself smiling.

"What?"

"Dicks, the lot of them." he clarified. "You wanna stay for…" he paused looking over at a clock on the wall. "Breakfast?"

Persie looked up at the wall too and saw that it was now four thirty in the morning. "Fuck." she hissed under her breath. "I need to go."

Nightwing nodded as Blaze said a hasty goodbye and zoomed into the kitchen where the sound of the fridge and several cupboards opening and closing emanated. Miss Martian sighed and drifted over to give Persie a brief hug. "Goodbye." she said earnestly. "I hope you and I can become friends." she then presented her with a huge smile and flew into the kitchen after Blaze. 

"Here." Nightwing said holding out hand which held a small communicator. "You might never have to use it but this is a just-in-case."

"Just in case what?" she asked, plucking the device from his palm and holding it up to examine it closer. 

"We need you or you need us." Nightwing smirked. 

Persie smirked back. "You came to Manhattan on purpose didn't you?" Nightwing just nodded and she laughed. "Yeah, ok I'll keep it but no guarantees."

"Noted." he let out a little cackle-like laugh. "This is so aster."

She eyed him oddly but gave him a wave and turned back to the zeta beam which now announced her as 'Oceania. B-27'. As she darted back through her city, putting down the few criminals still operating in the light of the sun, threatening to break the horizon before slipping through her bedroom window she thought that perhaps she wasn't so alone anymore. She had Paul yes and possibly Wally was on his way into her confidence but they didn't understand. The other heroes did. They would understand at least a little of what had happened to her and what drew her to become a vigilante. She might not get much of it but it was one of the more peaceful sleeps that Persie had managed to have in a long, long time.


	5. Chapter 5

When Wally woke he had an oddly nervous weight in his gut. He groaned lowly when he heard his mother yelling for him to get up and buried his head into the pillow, fighting for the last vestiges of sleep. He didn't move when he heard the door open, praying that he would be allowed at least a few more minutes of sleep. He relaxed slightly when he heard his dad's chuckle from the doorway and allowed his eyes to open just enough to look blearily at his father leaning against the doorframe. 

"Morning, kiddo." he greeted and Wally just grunted in response. "Isn't today 'the day'? He asked, the emphasis and quotations obvious in his voice.

"What?" Wally muttered, trying to wake up enough to understand what on earth was happening. "No, Dad, 'the day' was like, six years ago or something."

"I was under the impression that you were going to ask a girl on a date." his father said in a slightly sing-song voice and he laughed as Wally sat bolt upright in bed, eyes wide and suddenly wide awake.

"Fuck." he hissed, scrambling out of bed and zooming around the room, trying to simultaneously put on his clothes and gather up his books. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!"

"Wallace West, that better not be coming from you!" his mother called from the kitchen and Wally froze, ignoring his father who was now chortling as he watched his son who was practically a blur, leaving papers and curtains rustling as he blew by.

"Of course not, mum!" he called back. 

His father snorted. "Your shirt's inside out." he commented helpfully and Wally cursed under his breath as he looked down. "Come on, Wally." He said, moving toward his son and laying a hand on his shoulder. "It's not that hard to ask a girl on a date. I mean look at me." his father gestured to himself with a grin. "I don't know where you get your smarts kid but it's definitely not from me. but I still managed to get your mum, didn't I?"

Wally nodded, leaning into the hand slightly. "Thanks Dad."

"Just be yourself."  
"What, a vigilante who started at age thirteen and can break the speed barrier without breaking a sweat?"

"Maybe not that much." Rudolf allowed. "You'll be fine, kid." he pulled his son into a brief but firm hug and shoved him lightly away. "Now go down to breakfast before your mother goes hoarse. I swear I had moved out by the time I was your age." the last bit was muttered but by the playful smile on the other's face, Wally knew he was meant to have heard it.

"Free board." Wally said with a shrug and ran out of the room appearing in the kitchen to kiss his mother on the cheek in the same second.

While he chewed on his toast, Wally considered the events of the previous night. Meeting Oceania had been…weird. He had heard of her and he knew that the Bats were probably doing an extensive background check on her but for some reason she seemed familiar. Her voice had rung a bell in his head that he just couldn't quite work out. The invitation to come to the mountain had, he realised, been planted by Nightwing and when his friend had suggested it to the other hero Wally had been surprised but he had taken it in his stride, remembering his uncle's and friend's stories about starting out as a vigilante alone. 

Her friendship with Kaldur had been another surprise along with the truth -or most of it- about her heritage and history. He wondered what her motivation was. She had powers, yes, but even so almost all heroes had a catalyst for dressing up and fighting thugs on the street. Batman's and Nightwing's parents were murdered right before their eyes, his uncle's father had been framed for the murder of his mother and Artemis's father had not only ruined her family but was also an international supervillain. 

Oceania had been exiled as she told them but he had to wonder; what drew her to fight crime in what he assumed must be the armour she had worn before her exile. Her armour was obviously of Greek style and if anyone from her old world saw her then they would no doubt recognise her. As disguises go it wasn’t very practical so the only conclusion he could draw was that there was something else, some other driving force leading her into 'The Life'.

oOo

Wally eventually tracked Persie to a small corner of the grounds at lunch time. She had the same book with her as she had had at their last meeting and was fiddling absently with a half-eaten bag of hot chips. She was frowning at the page and a finger on her other hand was running lowly along the page, pausing every now and then to jab and glare at the words. 

"Hiya Persephone!" he called as he strode over to drop onto the grass beside her. 

She didn't look up at him, still scowling at the page. "Persie." she corrected absently. Wally sat silently beside her, sneaking a chip every so often while he waited for her to acknowledge him. He knew from his friendship with Dick that it was a bad move to interrupt someone whilst they were reading. "Hello." she added, closing the book and looking up at him with her large and oddly hypnotic eyes. "What's up?"

"You have pretty eyes." he blurted in response. "They change colour, like the sea." he added as his face flushed to a rather dark red. 

"Yes." Persie said slowly. "I've been told." she grinned at his embarrassment. "I've got my father's eyes."

"Yeah?" Wally asked curiously, flush beginning to fade. "So what's Mr Jackson like? Does he shoot his daughter's boyfriends?"

Persie shrugged. "Don't really know. He left before I was born and I've only met him a few times."

"Oh." Wally said softly. "Sorry."

"Its ok." Persie shrugged. "You don't miss what you never had right? Besides, my stepfather is brilliant. He's a great father, better than my real one." she glanced over at Wally with a smile. "What about you? Do you know your father?"

Wally nodded, flopping onto his stomach and looking up at her to speak. "Yeah. When I was little he was a bit distant and my Uncle became like a mix of father and big brother. Now I think that my dad was a bit scared. My parents hadn't been able to have kids before me and they were quite worried, I was a sickly kid. When I got older my dad made more of an effort to bond with me though."

"And your uncle?"

"Still like a brother. He and my aunt have just had twins and me and my other…cousin, Bart, we look after them sometimes."

"That's nice." she sighed. "Do you have a big family?"

Wally shrugged. "Not really, not huge. "It's me, my parents, my father's sister, her husband and their twins. My grandparents died when I was a baby and Bart's parents died when he was young. He was raised by family friends who are pretty much our grandparents. You?"

"Hardly any." Persie replied, fishing a few chips out of the grease stained bag. "It was just me and my mum for a while then when I was about six, she married my first stepfather." she scowled. "He was a disgusting man. He…left when I was about twelve and then mum met Paul a few years later. I've got one cousin though. He visits every now and then. He loved my mum." she looked down at Wally and smirked at his guilty face as he chewed on a few of her chips. "My mum, she was an amazing woman. If I become half the woman she was I will see that as my greatest accomplishment."

"Was?" Wally prompted gently.

"She was killed in a car crash about four years ago."

"Oh." Wally whispered. "How're you doing?"

She looked up at him with her incredible eyes, brows drawn together slightly. "That's not what people usually say." she commented.

Wally smiled, a little sadly. "I know. My best friend's parents were killed when he was young and I grew up watching him blow up at every 'I'm sorry'."

"Thank you." she said with a smile. "I'm doing better." she answered honestly. "It was a while ago now and Paul has helped. We both had a bit of therapy."

Wally nodded. "Anyway, what I wanted to ask you. Do you want to go out with me?"

Persie gazed steadily at him making him fidget slightly. "I come with baggage, Wally." she said softly. "I might not be the girl you think I am."

Wally shrugged. "I'm good at reading people." he replied. "Give me a chance?"

Persie nodded slightly. "Alright. I'd like that."

Wally sat up and clapped his hands together. "Excellent. You free tonight?"

She shrugged. "Yeah. It's a Friday, nothing planned."

"You wanna see a movie?" she nodded again and Wally fairly beamed. "Thank you. I'll pick you up at seven? We can grab dinner too?"

"Yeah, sounds like fun." she agreed and rattled off her address as he wrote it into his phone. "See you later then?" Persie asked, picking up her book and preparing to stand.

Wally nodded, looking mildly shocked that she had agreed. Apparently it was a delayed reaction. "Yeah. Yes of course." she kissed him on the cheek and stood walking back across the grounds and looking happily up at the clouds which promised snow. Not even her uncle and his infamous temper could dampen her spirits now. 

Back on the grass, Wally held a hand to his strangely warm cheek and absently ate the remainder of the chips that Persie had left behind, on purpose he suspected. Snapping himself out of it he picked up his phone and punched in a number he knew by heart.

"Yeah?" came Dick's voice from the other end of the line.

"Dude." Wally breathed. "I've got a date. What do I do?"

Wally decided it was probably a bad sign that Dick erupted into howls of laughter in between attempting to command his friend to come to his house, pronto. Hanging up on his obviously crazy friend Wally looked down at the phone in his hands and sighed. "I'm doomed." he murmured to the lump of plastic. 

oOo

When Wally arrived at the Manor the doors were opened by Alfred who looked both exasperated, bemused and resigned. "Ah, Wallace." the elderly butler greeted. "I assume you are here to visit Master Richard?"

"Yes, Alfie. I think he might be giving me advice." Wally replied dubiously. 

Alfred gave him a look. "You may wish to take that 'advice' with a grain of salt."

Wally was saved answering by the arrival of his friend who darted down the stairs and seized Wally by the wrist and began dragging him back up the stairs to his room where he shoved him down to sit on the bed. "Now." he announced. "You did say 'date' didn't you? I didn't hear wrong?"

"No, you heard right. I asked this girl out. Her name is Persephone Jackson and she is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen."

"Wow, you've got it bad." Dick whistled. "When did you meet her?"

"Last week."

Dick grinned. "Where?"

"At school. She's studying to be a marine something or rather. Not really sure. I do know that she wants to work with animals in the zoo. Give them a more comfortable experience."

Dick nodded, filing the information away before he began pacing before Wally, a dramatic look on his face. "Right, young grasshopper. Let me teach you everything I know."

"You spied on your dad, didn't you."

"Everything I know." Dick continued, raising his voice. "About the mysterious beings that are the female population and the social event of dating."

"I am so screwed." Wally moaned, flopping to lie on his back, arm thrown over his eyes. "I should've gone to Roy."


	6. Chapter 6

Wally had to actively concentrate in order to hold back his powers, the urge to vibrate on the spot out of anxiety was so strong. He had never done this before. Picked up a girl for a date, a real date and potentially met her father. Or father-figure. Now he came to think about it, he realised that Persie had never actually told him whether Paul was the type of guy to shoot his daughter's boyfriend. When the door did finally open it wasn't Persie who answered. Nor was it her step-father. No it was a teenager maybe three or four years younger than himself.

The kid looked like he was still half-asleep and the circles under his intense dark eyes didn't help. He had pale skin yet oddly Italian features and a dark shock of black hair that was shorn close to his head at the sides and the back but longer and floppy on the top. He shook a few strands impatiently out of his eyes and Wally caught a flash of silver on the top of his ear. That combined with the black clothes, t-shirt emblazoned with a grinning skull all combined to make the kid look like a mix between a mix between a goth and a punk. 

"Can I help you?" he asked in a quiet voice.

Wally fidgeted. "Um. Did I get the right address? I'm looking for Persie Jackson?"

The punk suddenly smirked and the expression caused such a change on his face that Wally reared back slightly. "Are you Wally?" he asked. 

Wally nodded uncertainly. "Ah, yeah."

The teenager hummed and then turned back into the flat, calling. "Persie! It's your boyfriend!"

There was a thud from inside and then Persie came into view, shoving the boy aside. "Thanks Nic." she muttered. "Don't you have homework?"

"Oh yes." 'Nic' said almost sadistically as he walked down the hall. "Paul will have to help me."

Persie scowled after him. "That's Nico, my cousin." she answered his unasked question. "I don't see him often. He lives in Italy mostly. He's here for a few weeks."

"I think he'd get on well with Bart." Wally said, feeling horrified at the thought of his eternally hyperactive cousin and the goth/punk ever teaming up.

Persie laughed softly and Wally looked at her properly for the first time since she had arrived at the door. She wasn't dressed up but she still looked beautiful, the perfect 'date casual' of grey skinny jeans, a purple shirt under a black jacket and a silver scarf slung around her neck. She wore purple and blue striped arm warmers, black boots with a small heel and a grey beanie was placed atop her loose black curls. "You ready to go?" she asked with another small smile, drawing attention to the slight black outline around her eyes, making them seem even more hypnotic.

"Yeah." Wally said dumbly before he mentally slapped himself and grinned at her. "You look really nice." he said honestly and she blushed.

"Thank you Wally. You're not looking too bad yourself." she said indicating his ensemble of his red tight jeans, white Flash shirt, black hoodie and grey coat. Persie pulled her own coat off the hanger by the door and closed the door behind her as she stepped out to join Wally in the hall. They talked as they walked out of the building and to Wally's (Uncle Barry's) car. It was weird, Wally thought, but far from unpleasant to find so much conversation with Persie. When he and Artemis had been going out they were hard-pressed for conversation that didn't dissolve into an instant argument. By the time they got to the cinema, Wally found that he almost didn't want to get out of the car because he didn't want to stop talking to Persie, watching her laugh and smile. Dick's words; 'you've got it bad, dude' came back to him as they got out of the car and he couldn't even find it in himself to be embarrassed. 

Persie frowned up at the posters advertising the movies currently showing, trying to make the words stay in the one place. "So, what'cha wanna see?" Wally asked, bumping their shoulders together with a grin.

"Not a chick-flick." she said absently, squinting at the posters. It was possible to guess what they were about but not being able to read the words properly was incredibly annoying. 

"Thank god." Wally sighed. "I've never really done this dating thing before." he admitted. "But I don’t know how many chick-flicks I could sit through before I snapped."

Persie snorted. "I'm not really into those…sappy movies." she shrugged. "You're not the only inexperienced one here." she murmured. "I never really had the time or interest. We can learn together."

Wally smiled at her and it made her heart pound. "You into action?"

"Yeah." she said enthusiastically.

"So which one?" Wally asked, pointing at the three posters at the end of the row, the actors all arranged in dramatic poses and various forms of explosions and violence in the background. 

"What's the difference?"

"The titles probably sum 'em up."

Persie flushed, looking to the side. "I-I uh." she coughed. "I'm dyslexic. I can't really…read them properly."

"Oh." Wally said awkwardly. "Is that why you always look like you want to kill your books?"

She huffed a laugh. "Yeah."

"S'cool." he said. "My parents think I'm ADHD."

Persie sniffed. "I am."

Wally whistled. "Man, school must have been hell."

"You don't know the half of it." she replied with a grin, feeling a bit better with Wally's easy acceptance of her. "I never stayed at one school for more than a year. Kept getting expelled."

"I'm guessing it wasn't for yelling at the teachers."

"I blew up our school bus with a revolutionary war cannon once." she admitted and Wally howled with laughter.

"Oh, that is gold." he chocked. Once his laughter had subsided he pointed to a poster which had a woman standing back to back with a man, both covered in dirt and holding a weapon. "That one. I think you'll like it." 

As they walked up the stairs towards the theatres having bought their tickets from the incredibly bored looking girl behind the counter, Persie slipped her hand into Wally's and squeezed gently but firmly. "Thank you." she said softly when Wally looked over at her curiously. 

"For what?" Wally asked, squeezing back, his hand large and warm around her own.

"Most people when they find out about…me, well they don't usually take it all that well and from then on, I'm a freak. You're probably one of the few people who haven't held it against me."

Wally just smiled down at her and pressed a shy kiss to her cheek, blushing furiously and led her towards the theatre and their seats. Persie could feel her own cheeks heating up and realised that she was still holding his hand. She squeezed it again, instead of letting it go and was rewarded with the sight of Wally's white smile, teeth almost shining in the gradual darkness as the lights went out.

She could do this. She really, really could. It would be so easy to fall completely in love Wally West.


	7. Chapter 7

It was now nearing the middle of autumn and already it was unseasonably cold. Nico had told Persie that Persephone was extending her time in the underworld, the acceptance and acknowledgement from the other gods lessening Hades' bitterness. Persie and Wally had been spending a great deal of time together, the longer they spent together, the more they appeared to just click. Persie hadn't invited him to properly meet her tiny family yet, she hadn't yet told him about her dual identity or even her heritage and in her line of work, life had the potential to be short. 

In turn Wally hadn't given into his family's requests and brought Persie home either. He knew his cousin meant well but Bart had a habit of blurting out whatever flashed through his head and the twins were beginning to develop powers. He just had no idea how to tell Persie that he was a meta, that he was Blaze. Never before had he been in his situation. All of his close friends were in the 'business' with him and only the Bat's kept their identities close to the chest. 

These thoughts were running through his mind as he and Persie walked hand in hand from their latest date, a surprisingly fun trip to the museum which had an exhibit on the Greek and Roman societies. Persie had laughed when she saw the exhibit and had murmured little comments about all the gods to him in undertones and they both had to stifle their giggles, under the disapproving eye of a tour guide. 

"I had fun tonight." Persie said as they walked, squeezing their joined hands and nudging her shoulder. Thank you for taking me there. I was never really a fan of museums but, this was really fun."

Wally shrugged and kissed the top of her head. "No worries. Thought you might like it. How many dates have we been on now?" he asked, frowning in thought as he tried to count the many long and interesting dates they had been on. 

Persie snorted. "Why? Trying to work out when sex would be on the table?"

"No." Wally said quickly, flushing slightly as she snickered. "I was just wondering…wondering if you would like to…" he trailed off, head tilting as some barely-audible noise met his ears.

Persie had frozen too, the smile falling off her face as they turned in unison to the alley they were passing and the pair of fiery red eyes shining like torches in the gloom. Wally pulled Persie back, or attempted to as the shorter dug her heels in and slipped her hand into her pocket, returning with a pen that Wally had seen her fiddling with but never use. "Wally." she murmured. "Get away from the alley." it shocked him for a moment how calm she sounded. But when the pen transformed into a three foot long bronze sword his brain froze.

"Sword." he croaked and Persie rolled her eyes.

"Oh, Hades. I had to get one who could see through the Mist."

Wally shook himself out of his shock and dashed to her side, not caring about using his speed. "I can help." he promised.

"Can you?" Persie asked, swinging her sword as the growls got louder. "You know what that is?" she indicated the approaching red eyes. "That's a hellhound."

Wally barely had time to retort before the beast was lunging, jaws snapping and drool dangling from sharp jagged teeth. Matted fur stank and steamed in the cool air as Persie danced around the animal, slashing with her sword. He ran forward determined to help and when Persie saw him he knew she connected the dots but had no time to dwell on it because she twirled her finger in the air even as she got in a good slash on the creature's flank. Wally nodded in understanding and ran around the hound, faster and faster until he created a small tornado around the dog. He became aware of water joining his tornado and once he had built up enough of a spiral he jumped out of the way, just as that wicked sword swung through the air and delivered a killing blow to the hound, stabbing it straight through the heart. Instead of dropping heavily to the ground, the beast instead disintegrated, becoming a sickly yellow dust which spun through the air in the wake of the settling winds before sinking to the ground, leaving Persie and Wally to stare at each other with no idea what to say.


	8. Chapter 8

As Persie's wicked-looking sword was transformed back into a pen, Wally couldn't help but stare at his girlfriend who refused to meet his eyes. 

"Oceania." he rasped, coughing to clear both his dry throat and shock as he bent over, bracing his hands on his knees as he tried to get his breath back.

"Blaze." Persie returned evenly, running a hand through her hair and brushing some of the hellhound-dust off her clothes. She sighed as she looked at him, her ever-changing eyes emanating a tired sort of pain. "Wally, I-I can explain everything."

Wally shook his head. "You're not the only one, sweetheart."

She smiled at the name and hesitantly held her hand out. It was shaking when Wally wrapped his own fingers around hers. "Come back to mine and I'll tell you everything. I promise."

"Only if you want to." he replied, looking at her seriously. "You don't have to."

"I want to." she assured him. "I was going to tell you anyway, I just wasn't sure when."

Wally tugged her gently out of the alley and they began to walk slowly, hands still entwined. "This is why I didn't take you to meet my family." Wally blurted in a soft voice, to avoid being overheard. "Bart, he means well but he's not very good at keeping his mouth shut and also the twins are beginning to develop their powers."

"I'd like to meet your family." she murmured, looking hopeful but also a little lost as though she expected nothing good of the near future. Wally pondered this on the walk back to Persie's apartment. Would she really think that he would throw her away just like that? In their business, any relationship was almost treasured because they knew all too well that life was short and bloody. It was also why some heroes removed relationships from their lives altogether. Before he had taken in Dick Grayson those words could have described the Batman perfectly and there were other similar heroes who never got involved with anyone, for fear of their being hurt. 

Nico came into view after the couple stepped across the threshold and he eyed Wally suspiciously as he removed his coat and boots, sliding them into place beside Persie's. "Persie." he said in his soft yet powerful voice. "May I speak with you?"

Persie looked up at her cousin through the hair that had fallen into her face and they stared at each other for several seconds before she frowned. "Wally knows, Nic."

"What!" Nico hissed. "Can he see through the Mist?"

Persie shrugged. "Dunno. He's Blaze, Nico. He's got his own secrets." Nico scowled at her in a silent question and Persie returned the expression. "He's Blaze." 

Nico let out a bark of laughter. "Oh, now that it ironic." he sighed. "We gonna give him the 'speech'?"

"May as well." Persie replied as she led Wally over to sit on the couch. Then she froze, thinking over her time at Mount Justice and turning to Wally who had the good grace to look guilty. "You already know don't you?"

"Um…about the gods?"

"Did Nightwing tell you?"

Wally nodded. "Yeah. He and Kaldur told us."

"What did they tell you?" Nico asked, leaning forward and fixing Wally with an intense stare, looking much, much older than his seventeen years. 

"Not much." Wally admitted. "Just the basics about Demigods, monsters and the war."

Persie and Nico exchanged looks. "Any…details about the war, like our role in it or…what happened after?" Persie asked apprehensively. Wally shook his head as he looked between the cousins. 

There was a strained silence in the room broken by the sound of keys in the door and then the slight creak as it opened. Paul lay his bag on the small table, looking at the small group in the lounge room. "Ah." he said, breaking the silence which had become awkward . "You must be Wally?"

Wally shot to his feet and accepted the hand Paul held out and Nico and Persie smirked at his vaguely worried expression. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Really?" Wally asked, his voice rising an octave.

Paul looked amused. "Yeah. Persie's quite fond of you."

Wally turned around too fast for a normal human, comfortable with the knowledge that Nico and Persie now knew his identity so he didn't have to hide but he had forgotten about Paul who gasped and Wally pulled up short halfway across the room in under two seconds. "Oops."

"Well done, Walls." Persie murmured with a soft fond smile. "You may have given him a heart attack."

"Did I?" Wally said turning around and appearing at Paul's side almost instantly. "Oh, sorry, I shouldn't have run, sorrysorrysorry."

"Are you a demigod too?" Paul asked as he recovered from his shock, allowing Wally to lead him to sit on the couch beside Nico.

"Um, no." Wally said. "I'm Blaze. I was Kid Flash but my cousin's got that one now. I-uh recreated my Uncle's experiment and almost blew myself up, but I got powers!"

"So I guess you met…" he gestured at Persie. "Oceania?"

"Yeah." Wally replied glancing over at his girlfriend before zooming over to the other side of the room to sit beside his girlfriend who took his hand with a shy smile. "We met a couple of months ago as Persie and Wally and then a few days later as Blaze and Oceania. We…didn't really realise who we were until about an hour ago."

"Right." Paul said looking slightly bewildered. "So what are you gonna tell him?" he asked Persie who shrugged. 

"Everything?"

Nico groaned. "This'll take while."

"Yeah." Persie agreed and pulled Wally back down to sit beside her. "I swear none of this is a lie." she began and sprung headfirst into the story of her life, telling the full thing to her tiny family for the first time ever. There had always been tiny details left out or truths altered, not even Nico and Paul knew the whole thing but now, now they would know everything. And Wally would know just what he was getting into.


	9. Chapter 9

Persie sank back into the couch, looking down at her hands, drained. Her life had a lot more content than she had initially thought, her throat was dry and her hands were shaking with a mixture of nerves and exhaustion. Nico clapped his hands together once, looking a little shocked himself at all the information she had unloaded but not as much as Wally and Paul. At least he had been present for lot of it and suspected some of what had been removed from the retelling. "Well, there we have it. Now, Perse, I got a message from…dad."

Persie groaned and slumped further into the couch, hiding her face in her hands. "What now? Another of his meetings?"

Nico nodded with a grimace. "I have to go too." 

"Go? Go where?" Wally asked looking awkwardly between them.

"The Underworld." Persie said absently and looked up when Wally took in a shocked breath. "Oh, it'll be fine." she assured him, patting his arm. "Uncle has these gatherings every few months."

"Uncle." Wally repeated slowly.

"Yeah, my…father is Poseidon." she spat the name like a curse and Wally eyed her in concern but she shook him off with a small smile and a gentle kiss on the cheek. "So Hades is my uncle." she paused, nodding to her cousin. "And Nic's dad."

Wally still looked like he was half way to shock but nodded. "Alright."

Paul took pity on him and clapped Wally on the shoulder. "I know kid." he said bracingly. "It's a lot to take in. How about you come with me and we'll have a nice calming drink of something alcoholic." Wally nodded again and followed Paul into the kitchen like a lost dog but not after accepting a kiss from Persie. 

Persie smiled fondly after him before she turned to her cousin who was watching her with a distinctly unimpressed look in his dark eyes. "What?" she snapped tiredly. 

Nico snorted so that the hair that hung over his eyes flew across his face. "I never thought I'd see the day you'd be all lovey dovey." he spoke the last two words with such an expression of disgust on his face that Persie had to laugh.

"C'mon, dude." she said, slinging an arm around his shoulders and pulling him into her side. "Let's go see what your Dad wants."

Nico scowled but nudged her back his eyes smiling softly. "Yeah." he agreed. "Let's go face the music." he took her hand firmly in his and together they stepped into the shadows and the incredible adrenaline high that was shadow travel.

oOo

When they materialised again it was in the massive black halls of Hades' palace. A skeleton guard who were passing on patrols bowed to Nico and ignored Persie. Hades new attitude towards his niece had resulted in a change in his servants'. Before they had treated her with open hostility but now they simply ignored her existence. Nico was really in his element in the underworld as horrible as it was but here, among the shadows with the scent and pressure of death in the air he flourished. 

"C'mon." Nico murmured, snagging her wrist and pulling her along beside him through the halls of the palace. Persie always hated these trips. The underworld made her feel claustrophobic and smothered as though the air was too thin and the stench of death made her stomach roll unpleasantly. "I don't think it'll take long."

Persie nodded, stuffing her hands in the pocket of her jacket and ignored Nico's slightly wounded look when she pulled her hand from his grip. "Oh, shove off, Nic." she muttered. "Let's just get this over and done with before something kills me."

"Nothing's gonna kill you." Nico hissed petulantly, sounding exactly like the little brother he was to her. 

"Be that as it may, I'm still trying to get used to Hades being nice to me. it really wasn't all too long ago that he was trying pretty hard to kill me."

Nico sniffed irritably and stalked through the halls while Persie snickered and jogged slightly to keep up. They burst through the doors of the throne room together and with a louder bang than either really intended. Hades' gaze met them from his throne, body much larger than any human could be, every inch the god. A lazy smirk spread across his face yet he still managed to look bored. "Son." he greeted slowly. "Niece."

"Uncle." Persie replied softly and heard Nico murmur a greeting to his father from beside her as they both bowed shallowly. 

Hades nodded regally and Persephone's throne beside his was ominously empty. Persie always felt somewhat safer when her namesake was with her husband. The goddess had been incredibly flattered that her niece was named for her and so treated Persie with a little more preference than most other demigods even Nico who she had come to see more fondly. "Now I summoned you, niece because I believe you deserve to know."

Persie glanced at Nico who shrugged, looking just as confused as she did. "Know Uncle?" Persie asked slowly. "What do I need to know?"

"About my brothers." Hades said, shifting in his throne. Persie's face darkened instantly and she snarled under her breath. Hades nodded with a smug little smile and fixed his niece and son with a look that was almost proud. "As you know from my first summons after your ridiculous exile I told you that they had finally stopped monitoring your activities."

Persie nodded again. "Yes. Has that changed?"

Hades frowned. "I believe some of the other…children have noticed you on the TV and at least some of them would have recognised wither you or your fighting style and they are beginning to turn their eye back to you."

Persie snarled, clenching her hands into fists and turning away. Nico nudged her arm and Persie let out a shaky breath, slowly unclenching her hands and turning back to her uncle who stood from his throne, towering over them for a moment before he shrank down to human size and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, the cold of his skin seeping through Persie's hoodie and shirt, finally reaching her skin and she knew there would be a livid white mark on her otherwise tan skin for several hours. "What are they gonna do? Finally gonna kill me are they? Kill the girl that gave Luke the effing dagger, fulfilling the prophecy only to be condemned by another?"

Her voice had risen several octaves almost to a shriek and Hades' fingers dug into her shoulder and he gave her a warning glare which shut her up pretty fast. "You finished?" Hades asked in an almost pleasant voice and Persie nodded with a small scowl. "You know that despite your hatred of him, you are extraordinarily like my brother. Not just in looks." he added, gripping her chin to tilt her face while she scowled at him. "More in temperament." he mused idly. "You do look like your mother." he admitted. "But you definitely have his eyes." he let go of her face and watched her try and control her temper. "And his temper."

"What do you want, Uncle?" Persie whispered, snagging Nico's wrist in her hand. 

"What I want is my brothers to suffer as I suffered. I want them to know what it feels like to live in guilt from the suffering of their children. I want them to see their children exiled as mine were. I want them to know what it feels like to fail as fathers. As I did." he finished softly, staring at his son who looked back at him, their identical eyes meeting and Nico's pale skin even paler than usual. "I have gotten one son back, one child out of the very few I have ever had. They have always had many children, lately not many granted but their children have always been less…precious than my own."

Hades turned away, stalking back to his throne, growing in size as he did until he sat back on the huge chair, glaring down at them. "Is that all, Father?" Nico asked watching Persie try to control her emotions. 

"No." Hades replied. "They're watching you very closely now. It is only a matter of time before they send someone after you."

"Who?" Persie demanded. "Another god? A minor god?"

Hades shook his head. "I doubt it. It will probably be one of their brats. Just watch out." Nico and Persie both stared at him incredulously. He scowled darkly down at them. "Do not interpret my actions as solely compassion. I do…care for you. Both of you but I also hold leverage."

"How?" Nico whispered, his voice carrying in the echoing hall. 

"My niece, the great Persephone Mariana Jackson, trust and loves me, the Lord of the Underworld more than her own father."

Persie couldn't deny it. Her father had abandoned her at the first mention of that damning prophecy. There was no other daughter of Poseidon after all and the Oracle was unusually clear this time. She nodded shortly and Hades smirked. "Can we leave now…Uncle?" 

Hades nodded, waving a hand. "Yes, you may return now." black smoke billowed around the cousin's legs, twining around their bodies and when they opened their eyes again they were in central park the stone with the symbol for the Underworld weathered and worn but still evident on the rock before them and a green stem spiralling out of the ground and sprouting three white and yellow flowers.

"Daffodils." Persie murmured, bending down to inspect the plant. 

Nico shook his head. "Narcissus. Symbol of my father."

"There's three. Like Cerberus."

Nico snorted softly. "Little joke." he looked up at her, his dark eyes intense and he frowned. "Do you reckon they will come for you?"

Persie smiled wryly. "I bet Annabeth will be first in line. She believed that prophecy pretty quick and she was the first to scream that I was a monster destined to destroy us all."

Nico pulled her to her feet and slung an arm around her shoulders, Persie realising absently that he was several inches taller than her at long last. "They won't get you." he declared firmly. "Wally won't let them. I won't let them."

Persie smiled, a real smile and kissed Nico on the cheek. "Thanks kid. You know I love you, yeah?"

Nico nodded, a flush staining his cheeks. "Yeah, I know." he coughed. "You too." he removed his arm and walked a few feat ahead of her, ignoring as she laughed and ran to catch up.


	10. Chapter 10

Persie stood before her bedroom mirror eyeing her appearance critically and obstinately ignoring Wally's smirk reflected back at her from the bed behind her. "Will they like me?" she asked softly, pulling at a freshly curled lock of hair and scrutinising her makeup hoping it wasn't too dramatic yet there was enough to do its job of subtly highlighting her best features; her eyes. She both loved and hated her eyes. Most people said she had her father's eyes yet she thought that perhaps she had a bit of both her parents. Her mother had similar eyes, that often changed in different lights and situations, often looking like the ocean reflected in her father's eyes. 

"Of course they'll like you." Wally said with a little laugh. "Who couldn't love you?"

She let a little smirk stretch her lips. "Do you love me?" she asked, a pout on her lips. 

Wally was suddenly behind her, arms sliding around her waist and lips pressing beneath her ear. "I love you more than food." he replied in a low voice.

Persie swooned dramatically. "More than food!" she gasped with a smile. "That's the most romantic thing anyone's ever said to me!"

Wally snorted as she giggled and pulled her hand away from her hair, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. "You look beautiful." he murmured. "Are you ready to go now? You'll be fine. I promise."

She nodded and let him seize her hand and pull her out of her apartment and to the car. They drove to a zeta beam mostly to keep up appearances and then took the beam to a spot about half an hour outside where Wally grew up and took the car that was ready waiting for them. He smiled at her, amused at her anxiety and squeezed her hand before pounding on the bright red door of a very ordinary house in the middle of a very ordinary suburban street. The door was opened by a blonde woman who shared Wally's intense green eyes. The eyes darted from Wally's face to her own and then to their joined hands, the smile on her face widening to such a degree that Persie felt her own ache in sympathy. 

"Wally!" she greeted happily. "And is this the lovely Persie we've heard so much about?" she didn't wait for an answer, shoving Wally aside and pulling Persie into an unexpected hug. Persie scowled at Wally over the blonde's shoulder but he only grinned and mouthed 'told you so'. "I'm Wally's mother. Call me Mary." Mary pulled back, holding Persie by the shoulders and looking her up and down. "And you are even more gorgeous than Wally described." she said and Persie felt her face heating up and she could see Wally snickering behind his mother. 

Mary looked prepared to keep talking but then a tall only slightly plump man with warm brown eyes and thinning yet still incredibly red hair appeared beside Wally. "Let the poor girl breathe, darling." he said cheerfully. "I'm Rudy's. Wally's dad." he greeted, holding out a hand for her to shake.

Persie took it, determined to make a good impression. "It's very nice to meet you. Your son talks about you a lot."

Mary turned to her son suspiciously and Rudy laughed loudly. "Does he now?"

Persie nodded, returning the man's contagious smile and ignoring Wally's mildly panicked expression. "Yes. He raves about your cooking." 

Rudy's laugh somehow got louder as Mary and Wally blushed identically. "I like you, Miss Jackson." he said, stepping aside to let her inside. "Let's introduce you to the rest of the nuthouse." Wally took her hand again and ignored his mother's delighted sigh as he led her through the house to the kitchen where a group of people were gathered. When they entered everyone fell silent and Persie shifted nervously. Taking the cue for what it was, Wally pulled her forward to the table where two men were seated, a red haired twin in each man's arms. In the kitchen, separated from the dining room by a waist high bench top, two women stood together giggling like school girls, Mary easily joining them.

"This is Persie." he said into the almost silent room. "Persie, that over there." he pointed to a blonde man with the red haired girl on his lap, her hair pulled into two pigtails on either side of her head and a blinding smile on her face. . "Is my Uncle Barry, yes he is the Flash." he added before she could ask. "The babies are my cousins Don and Dawn and that is Jay Garrick." he added, indicating the older man who looked like the perfect kindly grandfather bouncing a giggling Don on his lap. "He was the first Flash and he's kinda everyone's grandfather." a small teenager zoomed into the room and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist in a crushing hug while Persie fought the reflex to throw him off. "That's Bart." Wally continued, tugging on the boy's arm until he pulled back to reveal a messy mob of brown hair and amber eyes beaming up at her out of a pixie-like face. "He's from the future." Wally nodded seriously at her incredulous expression. "Made a time machine but couldn't get himself back."

Bart grinned at Persie, squeezed her tightly around the middle again before sprinting out of the room. "The red head." Wally continued indicating the women in the kitchen. "Is my Aunt Iris, Barry's wife with Joan Garrick, Jay's much better half." chuckles echoed through the room at what Persie gathered was a long running joke. 

"Come in here, Persie love." Joan called. "Let's hear some of Wally's secrets!" 

Persie smirked at Wally's almost terrified expression and she pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. "I've got a lot!" she warned as she sashayed into the kitchen. 

oOo

By the time they all sat down for lunch, Persie found that she as actually enjoying herself. It wasn't as though she'd thought that Wally's family would be awful but she hadn't actually expected that they'd all get along. She didn't have the best record with families so far after all. Wally's mother quite obviously loved her and his aunt and pseudo grandmother had both expressed their relief at her difference from Wally's ex. Persie quickly found she had been roped into helping with cooking the monumental lunch able to feed three speedsters and two who were quickly discovering that aspect of their powers. And when she blurted it out she was assured that the women were cooking because no one else could and the take-out people were growing suspicious. She was also informed that the men would be cleaning up-no excuses. When Persie and Iris had entered the dining room, arms laden with bowls, Iris had raised one imperious eyebrow at the empty table and seconds later it was laid. Iris winked at her and promised to teach her everything. 

The doorbell rang once the last plate was set down and Persie found herself astonished that the table had actually held all that weight. Barry rolled his eyes good-naturedly and suddenly there was another place set on the other side of Wally who had leapt up to go ad answer the door. He was back and seated beside her in mere moments. She eyed him oddly but he just grinned at her through a mouthful of food. Persie grimaced and smacked him upside the head. Mary laughed and Iris grinned at her, Joan practically radiating pride. A man about their age entered the room with a charming smile on his handsome face. His blue eyes shone mischievously and his hands were thrust deep in the pockets of his no doubt designer jeans. He greeted the entire family with hugs and kisses on the cheek and when he finally reached her she stood and they both eyed each other carefully. Nightwing. She realised. She knew he easily recognised when she realised who he was and she could see in his eyes that he knew who she was as well. 

"I assume you're the brofriend?" she asked with a smirk, ignoring Wally's tortured groan.

The man blinked and then grinned brightly. "Dick Grayson." he said, holding his hand out to be shaken. "And you must be Persephone."

"Persie." she corrected, shaking his calloused, long fingered hand. "Wally talks about you a lot. Most of it good."

Dick laughed as they both took their seats on either side of Wally who looked happy yet slightly worried at their easy friendship. "Well let me tell you he never stops talking about you. I have heard many a spiel on how your hair shines on the sun and how your eyes were like pools of the sea."

Persie laughed and Wally flushed furiously as he punched his friend in the shoulder and his family laughed. It was probably one of the best lunches that Persie had ever had. Being able to witness how a real family interacted was…incredible and judging by Dick's understanding smile, he got it too. She had loved her mother with all she had but most of their time together was marred by Smelly Gabe and then once he was dead, Persie was almost always at boarding school or camp and once she met Paul, even though Persie loved him, nothing compared to a large happy family with hardly any burdens. Persie had been shocked that the subject of hero work had come up at the dinner table. In her own home it was almost a taboo subject because that easily led to the subject of demigods which made Persie incredibly angry and sad, Nico furious and Paul usually broke something. Sitting here, with this family was exhilarating. 

The image of them all smiling and laughing around the table, Bart eyeing his grandmother carefully as he tried to steal the last potato from her plate and Iris, without even looking down, slapping his hand away and piercing the potato in the same movement stayed in her mind as she and Wally pulled up in front of her house. 

"I had a great time, Wally." she said earnestly. "Your family is amazing."

Wally grinned and nodded. "They may be nuts but I love 'em." he murmured, leaning over to kiss her. Persie laughed into his mouth and slid her hands over his shoulders to pull him closer. "I love you." Persie whispered once they pulled apart, resting their foreheads together.

Wally smiled at her and kissed her once more. "I love you too."

When Persie entered the apartment it was with a smile on her face that made Nico look at her as if wondering whether she were drunk. "You ok, Perse?"

Persie nodded. "Yeah. I'm just perfect." she breathed happily.


	11. Chapter 11

Despite the fact that she had been issued with a League com, Persie never really expected to be called in as backup for either the Young Justice or Justice League teams. Even after she and Wally had become aware of the other's…extracurricular activities and her identity had been revealed to the team -with Nightwing doing an admirable job of pretending to be surprised- and she had been welcomed with open arms if a little suspicion, she hadn't really expected that suspicion to allow them to ask her to watch their backs. She didn't begrudge them that though. She got the impression that the team had all become fiercely protective of Wally after he had, apparently been sent several days into the future as a result of running too fast and being blasted by unknown energy beams, and they had though him dead. 

So when the com began beeping and a blue light began to flash she snatched it up and shoved it into her ear, abandoning the incredibly slow moving essay with relish. "Oceania here." she announced.

"Oceania!" Came Wally's familiar voice, out of breath and oddly distracted.

"You alright, Blaze?" she asked, assuming the codenames were being used for a reason and Wally wasn't using the League issue coms to catch up. 

"We could use a hand." Wally admitted as the sounds of battle finally filtered through to her and she eagerly abandoned her desk and reached for her costume.

"What's happening?" she demanded as she pulled her Kevlar reinforced blue shirt over her head and kicked off her ugg boots.

"The Injustice League attacked Metropolis." Came Wally's voice. "We figure that Luthor had another problem with Supes and maybe some kinda custody battle or something." he said, words getting faster and slower alternately as he fought. "A lot of other villains showed u to join in and now there's a massive battle happening, we need backup. You right to come?"

Persie nodded as she quickly wove her hair back into a braid and shoved her plumed helmet onto her head before remembering that Wally couldn't see her. "Yep. On my way. Nightwing and Robin installed a zeta beam not too far from here, I'll be there soon."

"See ya, Princess." Was his parting remark before the link died and Persie jumped out of the window after double checking her weapons and gathered the moisture from the humidity-filled air to guide her three blocks over to where the beam had been installed in a long operational telephone box. 

When the beam spat her out in the centre of Metropolis she instantly heard the sounds of battle which had been muted through Wally's com. Ducking out from the alley where the beam exited in a dumpster, Persie immediately had to dodge a brick as it went flying past her head and smashed into the wall behind her. Without further prompting, Persie leapt into the battle compromised of almost every hero she had ever heard of plus several others and what had to be every villain they had ever associated with. 

Launching herself into the fray, Persie was immediately granted two opponents which she disarmed and knocked out with enough force to ensure unconsciousness for several hours. As she waded through the battle, she activated her com once more. "Blaze? Come in, Blaze." A thug tried to take advantage of her apparent distraction and ended up hogties on the ground with a mouthful of dirt. 

"Blaze here." Came the reply. "Oceania? Areyoualright?" In his haste, Wally's words began to blur together.

"I'm fine Blaze." she assured him. "I've arrived in the south side of the city on…" she looked around her as she gave one baddie a roundhouse kick, stabbed another in the arm and smashing the hilt of her sword on the helmet of one so hard, his eyeballs shook in his head before rolling back in his head and his body collapsed in a heap, smashing one of his comrades under his girth. She rattled off the names of the street signs she could see whilst still concentrating on the fight around her. It had been so long since she'd had a proper fight and not a spar or a poorly balanced fight with a mugger that her blood was fizzing in her veins, demigod senses on high alert. It was the best adrenaline rush she'd had in years.

"We're all over at the base of Lexcorp Tower." Wally relayed. "Bats told us to stop anyone else from getting in but I think we're gonna need a hand. Deathstroke's here and gunning for Nightwing."

Persie swore and leapt into the air, using all the water she could from the humid air, sweat, tears of pain or rage and melting ice to both keep her up and soak the villains in a ten metre radius. When they froze into immobile yet non-lethal blocks of ice, Persie looked around and nodded with a small smile at Captain Cold who-like his fellow Flash Rogues-had apparently decided that fighting all those heroes was a bad idea. Cold grinned back at her and gave her a salute with his gun and leapt back into the battle, his path marked only by the ice statues that sprung into being. As she soared above the fight and began to make her way over to where she could see Kaldur's own water powers, Persie gathered water from the villains below, dehydrating them enough to be taken down easier before she dumped it over a group of fire users trying to trap Aqualad. 

Kaldur nodded his thanks to her as she passed by and using her height, Persie searched for Deathstroke while deflecting all shots fired at her. When she finally spotted the mercenary, he was driving Nightwing up against the wall of the Lexcorp tower his two swords doing much more damage than the hero's eskrima sticks.

Persie didn't think twice. Hitting the ground running she readjusted her grip on her swords and easily gained the one-eyed man's attention. He smirked when he saw her and her twin swords before abandoning his fight with Nightwing in favour of her. The people around them quickly gave them room and no one dared try to interfere. Persie didn't blame them. She hadn't had the chance to fight against an opponent with swords that weren't training dummies for years and to finally fight against a master at the art was both terrifying and exhilarating. They both slashed and stabbed, practically twirling around each other in a deadly dance where neither was afraid to fatally hurt the other. It only ended when Batman and Superman intervened, Superman seizing Deathstroke in a steel grip and forcing him to drop his swords while Batman broke a pellet of knockout gas in his face. The silver haired man snarled even as his struggles weakened and the expression remained on his face even after he had gone limp and had been taken away to an extremely secure prison by the man of steel. 

Persie panted harshly and when Wally's hands landed on her arms and it was only thanks to Wally's speed that he was saved from having his hands sliced off. She let her arms drop but managed to sheath her swords by the time Wally appeared behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and letting her lean back into him. "Well done, Oceania." Batman growled, patting her on the shoulder. "Get yourself to one of the Lanterns. They're transporting people to the tubes directly to Medical in the Watchtower."

"Medical?" She questioned, looking down at herself and blinking at the dents in the her armour and the slashes in her clothes where her armour didn't cover it and blood was dripping down her hand. "Oh. Yeah, might be an idea." she looked up at Batman. "You don't happen to have any nectar or ambrosia do you?"

He gave her an almost invisible smile, a bare twitch of the lips. "I believe there is some I can part with."

"You know." Persie said as she sagged against her boyfriend. "You're not as bad as everyone seems to think."

"Only sometimes." Batman allowed and Wally let out a slightly hysterical chuckle behind them. "You fought well." Batman told her with another slightly awkward pat on the shoulder. "I do not believe that anyone else has lasted that long in a fight against Deathstroke and hardly anyone managed to land as many hits as you did."

"But what were you thinking?" Wally cried. "Why the fuck did you go up against that by yourself? Huh? You could have been killed! No one has taken on Deathstroke alone and won!"

"And what, I'm not good enough to take on someone you can't?" Persie snarled, ripping herself from Wally's embrace and stumbling as the wounds on her legs throbbed, the adrenaline in her veins gone and now the pain was a constant and strong ache. "Am I to be some gods-damned damsel in distress for you to swoop in and rescue?"

"N-no." Wally stuttered, shock coating his features from behind his auburn-lensed goggles. "No, it's not that…" he trailed off, rubbing at a wound on his arm but before he could continue, Persie's leg collapsed and she swore even as Batman seized her elbow to support her. 

"Fuck that." she snapped, moaning softly as her wounds were agitated. "I live my own life, what gives you the right to tell me what to do?" she gasped in pain as Batman began to lead her away towards the green glow of the few lanterns who were preparing to transport the next group of the injured to the watchtower medbay. 

"She may just need time to cool." Batman said to Wally who was standing dejectedly beside them, staring at the practically the unconscious woman. "Come see her once she's been healed." Wally watched them walk away, the further they went, the more Persie seemed to need Batman's support until he was essentially carrying her. With every step they took, all Wally could think of was how much he wished he was in Batman's position, leading what could possibly be the love of his life to the medical attention she needed after one of the most amazing battles he had ever seen.

oOo

When Persie woke her armour had been removed and she was just left in her black pants and her blue shirt. Thanks to her armour her clothes hadn't actually been all that damaged in the fight but as she gently tensed all her muscles to see how much damage she had sustained in the overall battle and then the fight with Deathstroke-which had to be one of the more difficult fights she had ever had-she found herself wincing slightly when she moved the parts of her body which hadn't been covered and a dull ache in her muscles. 

"Perse?" Persie's eyes snapped open and she looked to the side to see Wally sitting at her bedside and looking remarkably like a kicked puppy. He was still in his Blaze uniform even though it was singed in places and had a few holes, hair falling dejectedly over his forehead and his eyes large and pitiful. "Can we talk please, baby?"

Persie felt a bit…distant from the conversation as if she were slightly apart from her body and suddenly realised that only now was it lessening. "What drugs am I on?" she said instead and Wally blinked once before he smiled at her.

"Good stuff?"

Persie nodded and her head flopped slightly. "I don't really need it all do I?"

"A little. You weren't all that bad but one shot to your stomach almost started internal bleeding. Midnite thinks that the impact of Deathstroke's sword on your armour caused a big enough impact to put enough pressure on the impact site to almost cause the internal injury."

Persie lifted up the sheets covering her stomach and Wally helped her gently peel her shirt up off her stomach to reveal the livid black bruise that was beginning to go slightly green. "Gross." she murmured. "That one's gonna hurt for a while."

Wally nodded fiddling with the edge of a bandage on her wrist. "I'd say so." he agreed. "Can-can we talk now?"

"Are you gonna break up with me?" Persie blurted, twisting the sheets in her hands.

Wally blinked. "W-w-what? Why would I break up with you?"

Persie shrugged. "I dunno." she muttered. "You were really angry and I was pissed off and I almost cut off your arms."

Wally snorted and looked away but Persie could see the hints of a smile on his face. "I was scared, Perse." he admitted softly. "You were fighting Deathstroke and I couldn't help you. I thought he was going to kill you." 

"Did you doubt me?" she asked playfully a small smirk on her face.

Wally blanched and his face went white. "N-n-no?" he replied making it sound like a question and eying the tap at the other end of the room. 

Persie reached out and took his hand, running her thumb over his knuckles. "Will we be ok, Walls?"

He smiled back at her and she heard the heart monitor pick up the pace slightly in time with the thudding in her chest. "Yeah. I think we will be, Persephone." he pressed a sweet kiss to her forehead and tactfully ignored the jump in the heart monitor and the blush in her cheeks.


	12. Chapter 12

Persie certainly wasn’t used to being in the same room with as many people as this unless she was in a lecture hall or on the subway at the busiest point of the day. She didn't feel claustrophobic or trapped though, in fact she basked in the noise of all these people - her family - made, laughing, chatting and teasing each other. It had been so long since she'd last spent a Christmas that wasn't just herself and Paul with Nico dropping in for several hours before he went down to Hades to visit his father. This year was a new year and one she knew would be amazing if this Christmas was anything to go by. 

She was sprawled between Wally's legs as he reclined against the leather armchair in the huge lounge room of Wayne Manor. Dick had somehow managed to convince his guardian that it would be a brilliant idea to convince his guardian that it would be a brilliant idea to have people over for Christmas and he had to have agreed but Persie got the impression that Dick had neglected to inform the man on just how many people would be attending if Bruce's slightly pinched expression was any indication. 

Wally's arms were warm around her waist and he kissed her behind the ear as she leaned back against his chest and flipped idly through the book she's been given from Dick who had somehow managed to find one written in perfect Ancient Greek so she was able to read it without too much trouble from her dyslexia. Bart was suddenly crouched beside her and a moment later the wind from his speed whipped her hair against Wally's face.   
"What'cha got?" he chirped, large brown eyes wide with excitement (And probably too much sugar) Persie angled the boo for him to examine and he squinted at the symbols on the cover. "What's it called?" he asked.

"It's a collection of Greek Fairy tales." Persie said with a smile, running her hand down the leather cover. 

"Can you read me some?" Bart asked looking ecstatic at the very idea and the twins hearing the words 'fairy tale' toddled over, leaning on Persie's legs and beamed up at her with their tiny teeth bared in smiles. 

"Us too! Us too!" they chanted together dissolving into giggles when Wally ruffled their hair.

"Maybe later, brats." he said giving them a gentle push. "Go back to your mummy. And take B with you." they giggled but took Bart's hands and he allowed them to lead him half bent over to the other side of the room where Barry and Iris were seated together on one of the long couches beside Jay and Joan Garrick who each lifted a twin onto their laps with a smile. 

"One more present guys!" Tim called out and Dick smiled lazily from where he was laid out on another couch, phone in hand no doubt texting his boyfriend whom he had refused to let them meet yet. 

"Who is it for Timmy?" he asked his brother. 

Tim squinted at the label on the narrow rectangular package. "Wallace and Persephone." 

Wally and Persie both grimaced at the mention of their full names but Persie accepted the box that Tim passed her and Wally leaned over to watch as Persie unwrapped the box. There was a long and old-fashioned looking key nestled among the dark blue velvet of the box. "Who is it from?" Wally murmured against her neck and Persie shrugged, picking up the label from where it had fallen when she removed the ribbon and held it up for Wally to read, the looping script and small print too hard for her to decipher. 

"From Bruce." Wally read and all eyes turned to the billionaire who shifted uncomfortably and averted his eyes. 

Bruce cleared his throat. "I spoke with your parents." he said softly. "And I believed that you were mature enough and old enough."

Wally nodded slowly. "Yeah, thanks and all but um…what is it?"

"It’s a key." Bruce said and Dick laughed.

"Yes but they don't know what for."

"It’s the key to an apartment in New York." Bruce explained looking uncomfortable. "It's been in my family for years but no one's ever used it. I was going through the books a few weeks ago and found it. I was going to sell it but Dick suggested it might be a good present. I asked your families about it and they agreed that you were mature enough. You’ve both got full-time jobs and are perfectly capable-" he broke off when Persie touched his arm and he looked up at her curiously. 

"Thank you Bruce." she said earnestly. "It means a lot to us."

"Yeah." Dick snorted under his breath. "You can have sex whenever you want."

Persie glared at him but turned back to Bruce with a smile. "Thank you." she said softly and the emotion in her words made them heavy and he even more awkward so he just nodded and looked over at Wally who smiled back at him with a grateful nod. 

"You'll have to get most of the furniture and pay the bills but you won't need to pay rent." Bruce said once Persie had sat back in Wally's lap. "Since the flat technically belongs to me rent is irrelevant but you will need to look after it yourselves and acquire all the fittings and things."

"Cool." Bart breathed and Nico scowled from where he sat beside the now bouncing Bart on the couch. "When I'm Wally's age can I get my own place?"

Barry snorted and Iris wacked his chest. "We'll see, sweetie." she said.

"Yeah maybe when you grow about three decades in maturity." Wally scoffed and Bart pouted at him. 

"I've got my own place." Nico murmured only slightly smugly and everyone turned to look at him incredulously. "What?" he asked. "My dad got it for me. I refused to go back to camp and I couldn’t stay in the Underworld all the time so he got me my own place. I'm emancipated."

Bart threw himself to the ground moaning theatrically. "Why me?" No one answered him and the twins used the opportunity to flop onto him giggling. "Why is it always me?"

"Why not?" Tim asked from the side as Nico grinned. 

"You seem like a pretty good target."

Paul looked up from where he was talking with Rudolph and Mary calling out. "Play nice kiddos or I'll have to do some cooking."

Nico and Persie immediately stopped smiling and Paul smirked in victory, Rudolph and Mary chuckling from beside him. "Must be pretty bad cooking." Mary commented. 

"Is it on par with Bruce's?" Dick asked with a grin.

"Put it this way." Persie said. "He tried to cook once a few months after mum…died and it put me out of commission for three days."

Dick laughed. "That's nothing. Bruce cooked once when Alfred was in England." he sat up and leant forward for dramatic effect. "Ace wouldn't eat it."

Wally gasped and then howled with laughter while Alfred tutted and Bruce flushed dully. "Who's Ace?" Persie asked. 

"The dog I had when I first came here. Huge black Great Dane. Awesome animal." Dick said with a reminiscent smile. 

"That thing ate everything." Wally said. "He ate his own crap, rotten eggs, birds that had been dead for a couple of days." he grinned at Persie's disgusted expression. "We gave him weirder and weirder stuff just to see what he would eat. The result was everything except-"

"Except what Bruce cooked."

They all chuckled and Bruce sunk slowly into his chair. It was strange seeing him like this. Persie had only seen Bruce as Batman before and only seen him as Bruce Wayne in the papers or on TV. Batman and Brucie both had a perfect reign on their emotions, able to either maintain a perfect stony exterior with absolutely no visible emotions or act like a ditsy and scatterbrained man wearing his heart on his sleeve. This might just be the real Bruce they were seeing now. This confident yet shy man who hid smiles but not well enough, enough so that they could see them before they vanished. This man who showed his love quietly yet still showed it. This was the real Bruce Wayne and Persie realised how rare of an occurrence this was and the subtle looks that Tim and Dick kept shooting both their adoptive father and each other only added to that. This was her family now. She had lost her last one but she would dig in her nails and never surrender this one. Ever.


	13. Chapter 13

The room pulsed and thrummed in time with the music and the hundreds of sweaty bodies grinding and swirling. The strobe lights flashed and the dance floor lit up the people on it from beneath, casting strange shadows into the rest of the room and the darkened tables ringing the walls. It was a Friday night and all the clubs were full of young college students, celebrating the end of the week. Persie and Wally were some of these people. They often did this on a Friday night, enjoying the end of a week full of study. She grinned as she felt his hands grip her hips and his warm body pressed up against her back. She twined her arms around his neck and leaned her head back against his neck so their cheeks brushed against each other and they moved together to the pulsating music. 

Wally kissed her cheek and then a line down her neck and she laughed softly, fisting her hands in his shaggy red hair. Wally vibrated slightly against her and bit back a moan as she turned in his arms and slammed their mouths together in a heated kiss. The push and tug from the bodies around them amplified the atmosphere, Persie, bouncing slightly on her toes to the beat that was now thrumming through the room until it could be felt in their bones. 

When the couple eventually stumbled out of the nightclub, Wally's already tight jeans and t-shirt were almost obscenely plastered to his skin, the sweat darkening the yellow fabric of his shirt so that it showed every one of his hard-worked-for muscles while Persie's green mini-dress had ridden up her thighs and she had her high heels hanging from her fingers. She ran a hand through her long messy black hair and grinned at Wally who smirked at her and reached for her hand, twining their fingers together and running the other up her thigh. "You wanna go home or keep going?" he asked into the skin of her neck.

She hummed against his cheek, running her fingers through his hair. "Go home." she decided. "Happy anniversary."

"Oh, are we finally celebrating?" he asked, releasing her hand to lay it on her lower back and subtly letting it slide slowly lower. 

"Well we couldn’t really celebrate while you had an exam could we?"

Wally grinned wolfishly down at her and pressed a hot kiss to her mouth. "Home it is."

oOo

When Persie woke in the morning she had a pounding headache and a warm body at her back. She smiled sleepily as she felt Wally stir against her, his face resting on her back and his arm slung around her waist, a warm weight against her. "Good morning." she whispered.

He grunted softly and shifted off her, running his mouth over a livid bite mark on her neck. "Is it? What's the time?"

"Nine thirty." another voice chirped from the doorway. "Time for little kiddies to be awake."

Persie shrieked, sitting up, pulling the covers up to her chest with one hand and reaching for the black pen on the bedside table with the other. Wally fell out of the bed in his shock and when he stood he was wearing his flash boxers and buzzing with the sudden adrenaline rush. "Rob." he sighed, slumping to sit back on the bed at the sight of his best friend leaning on the doorframe with a smirk on his face and blue eyes shining with mischief.

"Why in the name of all the gods can't you knock and use the door like a normal person, Grayson?" Persie grumbled, taking the shirt that Wally handed her and slipping it on. Upon closer inspection she realised that it was one of Wally's and she shrugged, snagging a pair of his boxers that lay on the floor. 

"That's boring." Dick replied with a grin. "Sides, I did knock. You didn't answer so what choice did I have?" he shrugged with an innocent little smile. "I brought breakfast." he added as a peace offering and the couple both grinned at him. 

"Good boy, Dickie." Persie said, patting the young man on the cheek as she passed. "I've taught you well." Wally and Dick exchanged amused looks even as Dick tried to fix his ruffled hair. "And it's blue!" came the cry from the kitchen and Wally chuckled. "You better watch out Walls. Dickie here is gonna be a great catch."

"Thank you, oh lovely Persephone." Dick said in a charming voice as he and Wally joined her in the kitchen. 

"Oi." Wally snapped good naturedly. "Keep away from my girl." 

Persie and Dick both snorted into their blue waffles and Dick sat back in his chair with a grin. "How did you even get blue waffles?" Wally asked to change the subject.

Dick gave him a derisive look. "I'm Richard Wayne and," he turned to Persie and nodded at her. "A great catch." he grinned. "According to your girl."

Persie snorted again even as Wally gave his best friend a noogie before he sat down and began to devour the waffles at high speed. "So why are you here, Dickie?" Wally asked his friend once he had finished the entire box set aside for him.

Dick took a long drink from his glass before answering. "Bats has picked up movement." he revealed eventually. "It…hints at people looking for Oceania."

"What kinds of people?" Wally asked, leaning forward on the island bench. 

"My kinds of people." Persie said dully. "Right?"

Dick nodded apologetically. "Yeah. Bruce reckons they're demigods."

"Fuck." Wally muttered looking at his girlfriend worriedly.

Dick was also watching the woman cautiously and both he and Wally leaned back slightly as Persie scowled viciously down at her plate, hands shaking with rage. "Why?" she asked in a surprisingly calm voice. "Does Bats know why they're looking for me?"

Dick silently shook his head and slid from his chair, kissing Persie on the cheek and patting Wally on the back. "Good luck, dude." he whispered and slipped out the door just as the sink exploded. 

oOo

The sun was warm on Persie's face as she and Wally lounged on a blanket in the park on a rare day off. Neither of them had to work and Bats had for some weird reason demanded that they both take the day off. Wally was sprawled on his back, hair glowing in the sun and a small smile curling his mouth. Persie was lying on her side beside him, propped on one arm and running her other hand through his hair. "You'll make me fall asleep." he murmured, cracking his eyes open to look up at her. 

"You do need to sleep more." she replied gently as he sat up and framed her face with his hands, leaning forward to press their foreheads together. They sat there in a peaceful silence, merely enjoying each other's company, sharing soft lingering kisses. 

When Wally pulled away he pushed the remains of their lunch to the side and shuffled even closer, so Persie was practically in his lap. "Sweetheart, I love you."

"I love you too." she replied softly as Wally took her hands in his, pressing his lips to her knuckles.

He didn't speak for several minutes but Persie didn't push him, his moments of silence were always followed by something important. "We've been going out for almost three years now." he began and Persie felt her heart skip a beat. What was he doing? "I didn't really believe that I could find someone who…got me and when I was with Artemis I didn't really understand that we weren't compatible. These last few years have been amazing, you're my best friend and I love you. I love you more than anything." Wally looked down at their hands, his words speeding up in his anxiety. "I-I can't imaginelifewithoutyouanymore." he paused both of them breathing shallowly as they waited for Wally to continue but then a shadow fell over them and a throat cleared. Wally let out a huff of irritation, squinting up into the sun at the two indistinct figures standing behind Persie. "Dick." he growled. "I told you to piss off."

Persie leaned slightly to the side looking over Wally's shoulder and frowned. "Um, babe. Your brofriend is…uh, there."

"So who is that?"

Dick was suddenly crouched beside them, sunglasses perched on top of his head, blue eyes fixed on the mystery people. "I tried to herd them off." he assured them in an undertone. "I think they caught up with you, Perse."

Persie nodded slowly as her back tensed and Wally and Dick drew back slightly. She stood gracefully and Wally rose with her, Dick springing to his feet to stand on his toes, ready for anything. She turned around and came face to face with her old life for the first time in six years.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just thought I should add. I didn't actually edit the last few chapters very thoroughly before posting them so if there are any errors, I am really sorry. I'm impatient as well as lazy.

Annabeth had changed a lot in six years. The long blonde hair, curled like a princess's that Persie had once been so envious of had been cut short, barely reaching her shoulders and she had several more scars to add to her collection, a slim white scar running down her cheek particularly reminiscent of Luke. Her face had lost what little youth it possessed and she was now, at twenty four, both as beautiful as she had been at seventeen and painfully adult, the shadows in her grey eyes larger and darker than Persie could remember, her face so serious the expression looked permanently etched there and aged her by decades.

Chiron was beside her in his wheelchair, not looking at all different from the last time she had seen him. He probably hadn't changed much over the last millennia. Persie hated the look in his eyes. The large brown eyes of her old teacher so filled with pity and sympathy would once have made her feel small and her shoulders would hunch as she waited for the coming speech. Now however, she was a different person. Gripping Wally's hand she stood tall and firm, looking apathetically at the two once most trusted people in her world. 

"Persephone." Chiron said, looking a bit uncertain as he looked from her stern expression to Wally's mix of irritation and anger and Dick's . "It is good to see you again."

Persie bristled. "Is it?" She asked snidely. "You look exactly the same." she turned her scorching gaze from Chiron to Annabeth. "You don’t." she continued, looking Annabeth up and down with a little sneer.

Annabeth shifted and had the nerve to smile at Persie. "You look different too." she said. "You look well. I'm glad, Seaweed Brain."

She had made a monumental mistake. Ever since Wally had begun his little speech Persie's emotions had been on edge and then when two faces from her past had been rudely shoved into her face they were teetering on the edge. That name. The old nickname that had once been a good one, a teasing joke between best friends. Now it was one step too far. Persie stepped threateningly forward, letting go of Wally's hand and the look on her face was downright homicidal. "How dare you." she snarled. "How fucking dare you!" Wally and Dick exchanged a look as Annabeth and Chiron moved back slightly and they crept closer to Persie, ready to restrain her if needed. 

"You were ready to throw me out after an oracle that had spent decades in a dead host spouted a prophecy even though the last prophecy that dictated my life turned out to not be about me at all and now you show up here, with no warning after six, gods-damned years!"

Chiron clasped his hands together in his lap. "Persie-" he began.

"Persephone to you." Persie snarled.

"Persephone." he corrected. "There has been…new light shed on the terms of your banishment."

Persie let out an ugly bark of laughter. "Really?" she scoffed. "And it took six whole years? Three years of no friends, little family and the knowledge that nearly everyone who I thought I could trust abandoned me on the word of a spirit who was notoriously unreliable."

There was a ringing silence after Persie's speech which had risen to a screech. When her tirade ended she was panting heavily her glare dark enough to rival that of the son of Hades. "Three years?" Annabeth asked slowly.

Persie snorted. "For a daughter of Athena, you sure are thick." she replied venomously. "Obviously I made some new friends." she grabbed at Wally's hand and seized Dick's arm, both grimacing at her strong grip. "And you no longer have a place in my life." she ended firmly and when neither Annabeth nor Chiron moved she jerked forward, dragging Wally and Dick with her. "Leave. I will die happy, knowing I will never see you again."

With that she turned on her heel, Wally and Dick pulled with her and stalked away, leaving her once best friend and mentor staring after her with wide disbelieving eyes. Suddenly Wally was right in front of them. "You destroyed her life." he said in a deadly soft voice. "You will not do so again so I fully expect to never see you again." he turned around and ran at a normal pace back to where he had left Persie and Dick. They had moved out of sight behind a large tree and now Annabeth and Chiron were a mere black smudge in the distance. Persie was leaning into Dick's side as he rubbed a hand comfortingly up and down her arm and when Wally took her into his arms she threw her arms around his neck and cried sounding part grief-stricken and part furious. What was supposed to be their day, the day he would ask the girl of his dreams to…well it was ruined, now.

oOo

Wally allowed Persie to crush his hand as they waited at the waited at the top of Half-Blood Hill and watched the golden dragon feign sleep wrapped around a large pine tree. "That's Thalia's tree." Persie explained softly.

"The daughter of Zeus?"

Persie nodded. "Yes. She had a last stand here and her father turned her into a tree to save her. She stayed like that until myself and…Grover and Annabeth went on a quest for the Golden Fleece." she indicated the shimmery golden fleece slung ove the lower boughs of the tree. "In the end though-"

"-I brought it home, Prissy." A voice interrupted and Wally and Persie looked up to see an extremely well-built woman with her brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and a spear strapped to her back. "It's good to see you again, Fish Breath."

Persie let out a genuine smile and let the other woman pull her into what must have been a bone-crushing hug, complete with a back pounding that made Wally wince in sympathy. "Thank you, Clarisse." she murmured. "Wally." she said as she pulled back from Clarisse. "This is Clarisse, daughter of Ares." Clarisse looked Wally up and down and must have found him satisfactory because she nodded and thrust her hand out. "Clarisse, this is my boyfriend, Wally." Wally took her hand and was suddenly glad for all those years as Connor's friend before he learned how to properly control his powers.

"Red!" Clarisse yelled over her shoulder as she released Wally's hand and Wally blinked, confused until a girl with a shock of red curls appeared over the crest of the hill, panting, her freckled face flushed and scowling

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" she looked up and downright beamed at them. "Persephone and Wallace!" she frowned slightly and then shook her head. "Persie and Wally." she pulled them both into a firm hug and Wally heard her whisper, "I'm so sorry Persie, I'm so, so sorry."

Persie shook her head, pulling back and holding the green-eyed girl by the shoulders. "It wasn't your fault, Rach." she said earnestly. "You're just the host and had no say in what happened. "I don't blame you." she smiled, only a little brokenly and pulled away to re-take Wally's hand. "It's nice to see you again but can we just get this over with. We may have been summoned by the Olympians but they just said that I had to show up. Not how long I had to stay.

Clarisse and Rachel, the oracle if Wally remembered correctly, both nodded and stepped back, a shimmery shield Wally hadn't previously noticed, flickered momentarily to let them through. They were led silently through the camp and Wally found he couldn't appreciate the idyllic paradise when it made Persie look so devastatingly sad ad when all the campers stopped to stare, whisper and point at his girlfriend when they passed, drawing away and glaring fiercely. Wally wrapped an arm around her shoulders and glared right back, finding his worth in his somewhat petty actions when Persie sank into his embrace and smiled fondly up at him.

They came to a halt at the base of a set of stairs leading up to a wrap-around porch of an old farm house, it's blue paint fading in the hot sun. A dark haired girl stood at the peak of the stairs, a silver circlet holding back her choppy locks from her striking and heavily lined electric blue eyes. She leapt down the stairs in one go, her heavy black combat boots thudding on the ground and silver jacket shining in the sun. She stomped towards them, silver bracelets clinking together and if he didn't know she would cause him severe bodily harm, Wally would have stepped in front of Persie. As it was, he couldn't stop his arm from tightening around her waist. He needn't have worried for all the other, rather menacing girl did was pause before them for a moment as Clarisse and Rachel exchanged looks before darting up the stairs and into the house. The girl then took another step into Persie's space and pulled her into a long hug. Wally waited patiently after having removed his arm before it got stuck. When the two girls pulled apart, Persie had tears on her cheeks and the other girl was blinking furiously. "Thalia." Persie muttered thickly. "This is-this is Wally."

Thalia's scrutiny was far more intense than Clarisse's but Wally held his ground, searching for any sign within the other that meant she could harm Persie. Finally Thalia nodded but turned back to Persie, face turning serious. "I tried to stop this meeting." she said. "It's cruel and not at all fair but you know how they are."

Persie nodded. "Yes, Father visited. He hasn't changed." she huffed out an odd laugh. "Thank you for trying though."

Thalia shrugged. "What are cousin's for?" She and Persie shared a smile and then Thalia turned and led the way into the house, which, despite its charming image still felt imposing and almost frightening. He nearly jumped when Persie's fingers brushed against his wrist but one look at her apprehensive face and he seized them tightly and welcomed the time smile it received.

oOo

What Wally was expecting, he didn't know but a council of demigods and a centaur crowded into a gaming room around the billiards table definitely wasn't it. More than a few hostile looks were thrown their way but they made their way to the three empty seats without incident, Annabeth glowering at them from her position opposite the,.

Chiron cleared his throat and all attention snapped to him. "we are here to discuss our latest prophecy and to express our formal apologies to Persephone Jackson whom we exiled unjustly." Wally snorted and instead of chastising him as Annabeth clearly wanted to, Persie smirked. "The prophecy." Chiron continued as if there had been no interruption. "Regarding the daughter of Poseidon was a repeat and as such Miss Jackson was exiled. I would also like to express my own sincere apologies to you, Persephone for not being more vigilant. The recent battle clouded my senses." Persie nodded regally, accepting the apology. It was obvious from the regret and guilt emanating from the elderly centaur that he was genuine.

"What is the new prophecy?" Persie asked instead of replying and several people around the table looked outraged. Chiron however, looked unsurprised and merely nodded.

"It goes;   
Seven Half-bloods shall answer the call  
To storm or fire, the world must fall  
An oath to keep with a final breath.  
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death"

Persie nodded slowly once Chiron's voice had stopped echoing through the room. "I still don't see how this involves me."

Chiron nodded understanding and gestured to a mocha-skinned boy who bore the appearance of one who had had far too much coffee. His hands were twitching in his lap and his head jerked up when he sensed all the eyes on him revealing dark expressive eyes and mischievous features. "Leo, son of Hephaestus." Chiron introduced. "If you would explain to Miss Jackson."

Leo gulped but nodded a bit twitchily and Persie found herself smiling at him. He reminded her of Bart. Judging by Wally's slightly constipated expression as he fought to hold off laughter he thought so too. "Right. Well. We need to get to Greece, right?" he didn't wait for a reply, steaming on. "So I'm building a boat, the Argo II and well, she'll be able to fly so we've got Jason but we need someone who can control waves…" he trailed off looking thoughtful but then he guy beside him, Jason kicked him under the table and he jumped muttering under his breath at the blonde.

"But why me? Nico told me I have a brother, Aaron, I think?" Thalia nodded from beside Annabeth so Persie continued. "Why can't he go?"

"He has no experience." Annabeth said. "He's only been here a month."

"A lovely month, I bet." Persie snapped back. "Remember what I did on our first quest? I fought Ares. And won. Give the kid a chance. It's not his fault he has us for a family." she stood suddenly and Wally scrambled to his feet, not at all willing to stay behind with the demigods all on his own. "I will not go on that quest and nothing you can say will change my mind. You lot just need to get over yourselves and fix your own gods-damned problems for once."

She turned on her heel and stalked out of the room. Wally admired the impression she left for a moment before he sped after her, not bothering to hide his own powers. "Where are we going?" he asked, catching up to Persie. It was obvious she had a destination in mind and she stormed right through the middle of a volleyball game without a second glance. 

"To my old cabin." She replied shortly coming to a stop in front of a slightly weather-beaten beach cabin with the number three written on the wall in sea shells. Persie stared at the cabin for a few long moments before she shook her head and stepped carefully up the stairs and knocked on the half open door. "Hello? Aaron?"

She pushed the door the rest of the way open and it revealed a boy of about fourteen or fifteen years old with the same dark hair and a mix of rebellious and regal features. It was easy to see that he was Persie's brother even though he had warm brown eyes instead of Persie's odd eyes that cycled through blues, greens and purples. "Hi." Aaron said softly, fiddling with a short dagger in his hands. "Are-are you my sister?"

Persie nodded and they sat down together, leaning up against the outside of the cabin. "It's good to meet you, kid." Persie murmured, nudging the boy beside her.

"People think we're cursed." Aaron muttered. "Not just the kids of the Big Three but the children of Poseidon."

Persie sighed and wrapped her arms around her knees. "I'm sorry, Aaron. I doubt my…reputation has helped you here."

Aaron snorted and Wally grinned as he took his phone out as he sprawled on the steps below them, keeping enough distance to not eavesdrop but close enough to keep an eye out for any danger. "People talk. They avoid me, that Annabeth chick hates me."

Persie grinned slightly. "She would. Bitch." she looked over at her brother. "We used to be best friends and then well, there was the prophecy and she decided that all those years of friendship and battles wasn't worth it. Then I was exiled." she smiled slightly at Aaron who returned the gesture. "People talked and whispered about me when I was here too. I was a breach of the Oath of the Big Three. Myself, Thalia and Nico were not supposed to exist. Nico should have died long ago and Thalia and I should never have been born. We did manage to build ourselves a reputation and respect but all that shattered with the prophecy. I was exiled, Nico left them but he had still been an outcast even before, and Thalia had joined the hunters of Artemis. I'm sorry you have to live up to that."

Aaron shrugged slightly. "Not your fault. What was the prophecy? What did it say?"

Persie sighed. "It was the first prophecy that the oracle made after taking a new host and those are usually taken more seriously. It was unusually clear for a prophecy and basically said that a daughter of Poseidon would unleash lightning upon the earth."

"What does that mean?"

"The gods all took it to mean that I, a daughter of Poseidon, would destroy the world, just after we saved it. It was me that gave Luke the knife and then he saved us. How could I then destroy the world?" Aaron shrugged and Persie nodded at him. "Exactly. I didn't get it either. But a week later I was told to pack my bags and never set foot on demigod territory ever again."

"That's it?"

"That's it. I was left alone, no communication no nothing."

"So what happened with the prophecy? Was it really just a coincidence?"

Persie smirked. "They think so. You wanna know why there's this new one all of a sudden? Because the last big one was fulfilled."

"How did you do it?"

"The lightning thing?" Aaron nodded and Persie smirked. "Wally." he said indicating her boyfriend sprawled on the steps. "Do you know who he is? I'm sure that enough talk has gone around."

"Kid Flash?"

Persie nodded. "He was. His Uncle was the Flash and he was injured. His leg bones were shattered from the knee to ankle and in order to fix them metal had to hold them together. He was healing too fast to heal properly and as a result, his leg was fixed but he will never run as fast as the Flash ever again."

Wally looked up from his phone and grinned at them. "My Uncle wanted me to take up the Flash but I didn't think I was ready, didn't think I'd be good enough. I wasn't going to do it until Persie encouraged me to go for it. It's only thanks to her that I went out as the Flash."

"What is the symbol the Flashes use, Aaron?" Persie said with a smile.

"A lightning bolt." Aaron breathed. "You made him go out again. You 'unleashed' him on the wold."

Persie nodded with a wide grin. "Exactly."

"Are you going to tell them that?" Aaron asked gesturing across the field to the big house.

Persie shook her head. "I don't think they deserve to know. And then they'll believe that they were right in exiling me and they also don't deserve the satisfaction."

Aaron nodded. "Fair enough. But why are you telling me?"

"Because, you're my brother and I take great value in family. I think you deserve to know why people are going to whisper and judge. You need to live your own life, Aaron. You need to know that your life is your own and you don't need to put any stock in what others say. Ok?"

"Ok." Persie grinned again and patted him on the shoulder. "One more thing. I know he's our father but he's not perfect. I used to idolise him, thought he was the best father in the world and in a way he was. He paid me more attention than the other gods did but then again I was his only demigod child and he is a more rebellious god. He may love us but he was awfully quick to believe that I would kill everyone and turn his back on me." she pulled the boy into a quick one armed hug. "I know you love him, I still love him, he's our father." she paused. "I just want you to remember that he's not…perfect."

Aaron nodded. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." she smiled kindly. "I don't think I'll ever come back to camp but if you need me, for whatever reason, send me an Iris Message." Aaron nodded and waved as she stood and jumped down the stairs to join Wally at the bottom. They walked hand-in hand out of the camp, ignoring the stares and the whispers it was only at the top of the hill that they stopped. 

"What were you telling Aaron?" Annabeth called as she followed them. "What the hell did you tell him?"

"What's it to you?" Persie retorted. "I thought my innocence was proven, what have you still got against me?"

"That prophecy repeated for a reason, Jackson. The fates wouldn't have allowed an accident. There's still something you're not telling us."

"You lost the right to know my secrets when you left me alone, let me be exiled on the word of a prophecy which we all know are very open to interpretation. You still hate me after six years after it was proven that the prophecy was a repeat and my exile revoked."

"It was not an accident!" she shrieked. "The fates don't-"

"-What? Allow accidents?" Persie laughed cruelly. "Well, you might be right." she stalked forward until they were almost nose to nose. "You see, the prophecy has already been fulfilled." she stepped back and waved her arms around, gesturing at their surroundings. "And look at that, the world's still here. So maybe I wasn't the total psychopath you were willing to see me as and maybe I didn't betray you as deeply as you thought but well-" Persie leaned forward menacingly with an evil look on her face. "You betrayed me and I will never forgive you for that. You will just have to live with the knowledge that you were wrong, colossally wrong and we will never see each other ever again. Bitch."

With that she turned on her heel and stormed back to Wally's side. "That was strangely hot." he muttered against her lips. Persie grinned and kissed him roughly. "I think we've got an audience though." Persie looked around and saw several people had meandered up the hill to see what all the yelling way about and she glared and hissed at them.

"Piss off!" they scattered and Annabeth left last, a dark scowl firmly imprinted on her face. 

"I love you." Wally said, stepping back a little, holding both her hands in one of his and rummaging in his pocket with the other. "I was going to do this at the park, had it all planned out but well, we were interrupted and I've been waiting for the right moment." he sank down to one knee and pulled a small blue box out of his pocket, flicking it open to reveal a simple gold band with a small circular diamond in the centre and then a dark blue stone that changed colour in the light on either side in tiny lightning bolts nestled in the black velvet. "Persephone Jackson. Will you marry me?"

Persie smiled and blinked, not realising that she had tears in her eyes until they trickled down her cheeks. Wally looked up her, fear beginning to overtake the hope shining in his beautiful green eyes. She pulled one hand from his and cupped his cheek, pulling him to his feet. "Yes." she whispered. "Yes, I'll marry you."

Wally beamed and pressed a searing kiss to her mouth before pulling back and fumbling with the ring in its box. Once he managed to get it out, he gently took Persie's left hand and slid it on her ring finger. They both admired it for a while and then Wally scooped her up in his arms, kissing her again, looking almost euphoric. "Let's go home." he murmured in her ear.

Persie just wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest as he took off, laughing at the speed and the incredible happiness bubbling inside her. She was free. Finally free of all her past, her hair streaming behind them in the wind as Wally ran she could finally let go of the past and look to the future. It looked bright. Like a bolt of lightning.


End file.
